Solar panels to be made mandatory for new buildings in Hyderabad

The Telangana government is planning to make installation of roof-top solar panels mandatory for new buildings in Hyderabad, to provide for better and efficient energy needs.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Administrative Staff College of India and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on "Transforming Indian Cities to Smart Cities", a prelude to the 11th Metropolis World Congress 2014 scheduled to be held from October six to ten here, Telangana Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj, KT Rama Rao said Hyderabad already has such a mandate and directed the GHMC to enforce it strictly.

The Minister admitted that not many are aware of such a law. "GHMC (The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) should enforce this law with lot of force," he said.

Expressing views on the subject of the workshop, Rao said smart city does not mean just technology but smart citizens and smart citizen services.

The idea of smart city should be to improve quality of life and ensure how technology can be put to good use, it is not about individuals but a combination of all for everyone, he said.

It needs to be understood in Indian perspective as this country is heterogeneous and has several complications such as traffic management, day-to-day regular drinking water and better health services, Rao added.

He underlined that there is a need to instill discipline among people on better traffic management and energy utilisation, among others.

The idea of smart city is to improve the quality of life, what technology and how it can be put to good use is the challenge. Greener environment, better traffic management, sanitation and water distribution are some of the problems that need solutions, he said.