VISAKHAPATNAM/VIJAYAWADA : Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam are among the nine cities in Andhra Pradesh which were given four-star ranking in the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the CSCAF results on Friday. A total of 126 cities, including 100 smart cities and 26 other with a population of over five lakh, participated in the assessment, who first edition took place in September 2020. The participating cities were analysed on five key parameters with 28 indicators.
Smart City awards were given across the themes of social aspects, governance, culture, urban environment, sanitation, economy, built environment, water, and urban mobility.Tirupati bagged as many as five awards in five categories. It topped in social aspects for its health benchmark in municipal schools, stood third in urban environment for renewable energy conservation, shared top spot with Indore in sanitation for bioremediation and bio-mining, and stood second in economy for boosting local identity and economy through design studios. In the economy category, it stood in the second spot.
Meanwhile, GVMC commissioner G Srijana said Vizag received four-star rating in overall performance. She said the city bagged 5-star rating in urban planning, green cover and biodiversity; 3-star rating in energy conservation and green buildings; 3-star rating in mobility and air quality; 3-star rating in water management; and 5-star rating in waste management.
Vijayawada received a 4-star rating for mitigating climate change impact and inculcating a climate-sensitive approach towards urban planning. City civic chief V Prasanna released the report of CSCAF at a programme held here on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, Venkatesh said Vijayawada scored an overall score of 1,880 points out of the total 2,800. When it comes to thematic area performance, the city secured 3-star rating (358/600) in energy conservation and green guilding, 4-star rating in (316/500) urban planning, green cover and biodiversity, 3-star rating (222/500) in mobility and air quality, 4-star rating (400/600) in water management and 5-star (584/600) in waste management. VMC Additional Commissioner (Projects) U Sarada Devi, City Planner A Lakshman Rao and other officials were also present.
Meanwhile, as per the data of maturity assessment framework (DMAF) cycle-2 results of the 80 points, Visakhaptnam stood at 14th with 56 points, Kakinada at 19th place with 53 points, Amaravati at 27th with 41 points and Tirupati at 84th with 14 points.