HYDERABAD: For the first time in India, IIIT-Hyderabad hosted an international conference on ‘Counter Measures to Urban Heat Islands’ to combat excess heat and air pollution in the country on Monday.
The 5th global conference that was attended by more than 60 foreign delegates and over 60 Indian delegates was inaugurated by Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD).
The three-day conference comes to Hyderabad after Tokyo, Berkeley (California), Venice and Singapore.
While speaking at the event, Arvind Kumar said, “Hyderabad currently has about 120 million sqft land which is being used for commercial purposes. In the next five years, it will increase to 140 million sqft. Due to this, the temperature in the city is going to double in a short period.
Hence, a conference like this is highly relevant in discussing the countermeasures of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs),” he said.
Prof David Sailor of Arizona State University, while delivering the keynote address, spoke about ‘Limiting to Solve Urban Climate Challenges’.
The conference that will go on till December 4 is devoted to science, engineering and public policies to help relieve excess heat and air pollution of summers in cities.
About 100 technical paper presentations in four parallel sessions will be presented.