New Delhi: Holding the "ever-increasing"
population pressure as a major challenge facing Delhi, Chief
Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday pitched for city-specific
policies in the 12th Five Year Plan so that concerns of major
cities are addressed.
Dikshit, addressing a conference on combating climate
change, said the Centre must formulate specific policies to
help tackle various challenges including the pressure on their
resources.
"I would like to say that cities and rural areas need
to be treated differently. Can we have specific policies that
are specific to the needs of the growing cities. That will
give us more freedom to deal with the challenges," Dikshit
told the gathering.
Identifying increasing population as a major
challenge, Dikshit said a separate set of policies exclusively
for the growing and populous cities will help the authorities
address the challenges effectively.
"I do look forward to seeing that cities of India are
treated in a somewhat different manner because the lifestyle
there is different, the requirement of cities is different be
it water, energy or transport," she said, requesting Planning
Commission to look into the issue seriously.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh
Ahluwalia was also present at the conference being attended by
experts from 20 countries.
The conference has been organised by Delhi government
to seek opinion of global experts in formulating a long-term
plan in making the national capital a carbon-neutral city in a
time-bound manner.
"We are facing a very specific problem of population.
We are one of the cities having largest number of population
density. We have an ever-increasing population attracted by
booming Delhi. As it happens to be the national capital, the
migration into our city becomes more attractive," she said.
Listing various initiatives taken by her government to
protect the environment, she identified increasing the green
cover substantially and introduction of CNG for public
transport as major steps in this direction.
"We are a growing city. Our needs are growing. We need
to achieve a lot than what we already have. But at the same
time, it has been a constant battle to protect in
environment," she said.
Dikshit said the government has been encouraging the
citizens, government institutions and private sector to follow
the "motto" of "reduce, recycle and reuse" of scarce
resources.
Delegates and experts from various countries in
Europe, Asia and the US, besides representatives from various
states are participating in the conference.
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 21, 2011, 15:20