THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach Resort has been certified ISO 14001:2004 by the Bureau Veritas Group. Leela Kovalam is the first beach resort in the country to have received this.
ISO 14001:2004 is an internationally accepted standard for placing an effective Environmental Management System (EMS). The Leela Group has always been committed towards prevention of pollution and continual improvement in environmental performance by controlling the impact of activities, products and services on the environment, Leela Kovalam general manager Biswajit Chakraborty said.
The hotel has adopted various environmental-friendly initiatives thereby decreasing the negative impact on nature, he said. They include treatment of waste water, reused for gardening; energy-efficient pumps for the optimisation of water usage; use of dimmers for energy conservation; installation of Flash Steam Recovery; establishing EMPs to improve the environmental performance of the hotel on a continual basis; planting trees in and around the premises and organic farming.
The World Environment Day 2009 was celebrated with verve and vigour at The Leela Kempinski, Kovalam.
‘’The certification is truly an achievement for The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts Group and is testimony to our chairman, Capt. Krishnan Nair’s vision and commitment towards environment,’’ Biswajit said. ‘’The challenge now is to maintain these standards and improve further,’’ he said.
The Leela Kovalam Beach is the largest beach resort in the State with 182 guest rooms and suites. The Resort sits perched on a cliff-top cradled between two wide-sweeping beaches and offers a great view of the famed Kovalam coastline and the coconut groves.
The Leela Group had earlier won laurels for good ecological practices such as ‘The Green Hotelier Award’ from the International Hotel and Restaurant Association, Paris; the ‘PATA Gold Award’ for excellence in corporate environmental programme; the ‘V.P.Menon Award’ for environmental initiatives; the ‘Maharana Udai Singh Award’ for distinguished services in the field of environment and the ‘Corporate Environmental Achievement Award’ from the sixth World Wilderness Congress.
trivandrum@epmltd.com