This city has recovered rapidly from the devastating floods in December 2015. Now it ranks fourth among the Indian cities with 321 registered green projects. A report in The New Indian Express states that the results are based on data compiled by the Indian Green Buildings Council (IGBC), an arm of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which gives green certification for buildings in India.
According to the data, Chennai has 321 registered green projects - 119 are residential, 117 are commercial, 19 projects are city railway stations operated by the MRTS. The other projects fall under rating systems like factories, landscape and buildings that are already up.
The rank according to the data shows Mumbai (698 registered green projects) as the top Indian green city, followed by Pune (362), Bengaluru (333) and Chennai. Architect C N Raghavendran, chairman, IGBC (Chennai), has been quoted by the daily as stating that the reason Chennai is going green is because of the Tamil Nadu government's policies like rainwater harvesting, solar power plants for high-rise buildings, etc.
The daily states Chennai has India's India’s first platinum-rated green home called ‘Vishwa Syamalam’ in Madipakkam. The fourth school in India to get a green recognition is the 00-year-old Ramakrishna Mission Students Home in Mylapore. This school also got a platinum rating. The first Reserve Bank of India project in India to a green rating is also in Chennai. The new hostel at the Reserve Bank Staff College got an IGBC platinum rating.
Other buildings that are green in Chennai include the ITC group hotel ITC Grand Chola Hotel, Leela group hotel, TCS Techno Park, Mahindra Technical Academy, L&T Ship Building Ltd, Shell Business Service Centre and Turbo Energy Limited. These buildings all have platinum certification.
