New Delhi:
The President's Estate today became the first urban habitat in the country to be ISO certified following introduction of solar power and waste management system among other energy-efficiency measures under the project 'Roshini'.
"The ISO 14001:2004 certification means the standards set by the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) for Environmental Management Systems are now in place in the 340 acre President's Estate," a statement released by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The certificate was handed over to Christy Fernandes, Secretary to the President by R K Sharma, Director, Bureau Veritas Certification India on Sunday. Incidentally, today also marks the completion of three years in office for President Pratibha Patil and second anniversary of the launch of Project Roshini.
The project is an initiative that aims at making the President's Estate a green and an environment-friendly habitat in which good practices of conservation and efficient use of resources are encouraged, Fernandes said.
The Estate has seen a host of energy saving measures been initiated under Roshini. This includes electronic synchronisation of street and security lights with sunrise and sunset, use of energy efficient pumps, lights and equipment besides use of renewable energy sources like solar energy, bio-gas plant, piped natural gas among others.
As per the statistics of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, during January-June 2009, 78.95 lakh units of electricity was consumed in the President's Estate. "Due to the energy efficient measures, the corresponding electricity consumption from Jan-June 2010 has come down to 64.03 lakh units, which is a reduction of 14.92 lakh units saving more than Rs 90 lakh," the statistics report said.
The certification was one of the goals of the Roshini Project, inaugurated by Patil in 2008. Patil who spoke at the certificate handing over ceremony, congratulated everyone involved in the project. She said, "Don't sleep as you have to continuously work" as after one year another survey would be done and three years later there would be a re-certification process.
Also present on the occasion were Union Minister of Urban Development Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism Kumari Selja, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.
Patil also gave away awards to winners of a painting competition organised recently within the Estate.