Ahmedabad has beaten 15 Indian cities in a survey under the aegis of the Urban Environmental Accord (UEA),set up to carry out joint efforts in environment conservation. The Accord was signed at a meeting of mayors of a hundred cities in San Francisco on June 5,2005 to garner world support for green cities plan for the planet. Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam said the award was presented last week in Coimbatore at an international workshop on clean technology and efficient measures while developing infrastructure projects for improvement of urban environment. The International Council for Local Environment Issues-South Asia had organised the workshop,he said. Gautam said the Urban Environmental Accord called for developing a dynamic economy to preserve and sustain natural resources of the planet and joint efforts to encourage social balance. It also aimed at realising the millennium development goals through various accords. The UEA has set for itself some objectives,which include energy efficiency,waste reduction,urban design,transportation,environmental health and water conservation,he said. Ahmedabad topped the list among Indian cities by implementing 20 of the 29 measures prescribed in the Accord,followed by Hyderabad (18) and Bhopal (17 measures). The other cities that had signed the Accord are Aligarh,Bhillai,Kozhikode,Darbhanga,Delhi,Gwalior,Jammu,Jamnagar,Kota,Lucknow,Mumbai,Muzaffarpur and Mysore.
