BENGALURU: Bengaluru is poised to become the second city in India, after Mumbai, to introduce a dedicated climate budget, set to roll out in the 2025-26 financial year.
Speaking at the Friends of Climate Action Cell (CAC) meeting on Saturday, BBMP Special Commissioner for Forest, Environment and Climate Change and head of Climate Action Cell (CAC), Preeti Gehlot revealed that the team is currently analysing the corporation budget of the last two years to ascertain how much funds can be allocated.
Gehlot explained that the team is mapping BBMP’s past initiatives and identifying areas that need funding to combat climate change. “This budget is new for a city like Bengaluru, but it is necessary for a rapidly growing city like Bengaluru. With several construction activities, infrastructure works, and increase in vehicular pollution in the city, a dedicated budget is highly necessary. A streamlined approach will help address these pressing issues,” said a climate expert present at the meeting.
The CAC also unveiled Nisarga- a chatbot, developed by CGI and BPAC to provide citizens with quick solutions to climate and environmental issues. A solar rooftop explorer demo was presented, showcasing how citizens can calculate solar power generation, and financial models. Additionally, Blugreenuru Awards for citizens, and organisations were announced, along with the release of a Mapathon Guidebook by WRI-India to identify potential sapling plantation sites virtually.