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Tag: green

Breathing Uneasy – Housing Choices Amid Worsening AQI

akash pharande

 by- Akash Pharande, Managing Director – Pharande Spaces

The problem of rapidly worsening air quality in India has a direct correlation to our housing choices. Increasing urbanization, industrial proliferation and population growth are causing more and more homebuyers to prioritize the quality of their living environments.

Urban Centers – The Worst Hit

Indian city centres face severe air pollution threat:

  • Heavy Traffic – The congested city centres with high population and traffic density contribute significantly to vehicular emissions.
  • Industrial Pollution – Proximity to industrial zones with obsolete or nonexistent pollution control measures worsens air quality.
  • Urban Heat Island Effect – The concentration of buildings and human activities in cities leads to higher temperatures – which, in turn, escalate pollution levels.
  • Lack of Green Spaces – The absence of parks and green areas in densely populated urban regions makes natural air filtration impossible.

pollution

A Shift Towards Cleaner Surroundings

Many suburban areas with lower population density and more green open spaces offer relief from urban pollution. Planned cities, like Chandigarh, Navi Mumbai and PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) showcase the effective separation of residential and industrial zones, improving overall air quality for all concerned.

In the absence of planned development, many suburban paradises are at risk. Rapid real estate development will eventually turn green sanctuaries into polluted urban-like environments.

Exploring the Solution – Integrated Townships

To tackle this issue, the Indian residential real estate sector has introduced integrated townships as a solution that can withstand environmental challenges.

  • Captive Green Spaces – These townships prioritize green open spaces like parks and gardens to create an environmentally sustainable environment.
  • Reduced Vehicle Emissions – Because they incorporate schools, shops and recreational facilities within their precincts, townships reduce overall vehicle movement.
  • Sustainable Infrastructure – Initiatives like rainwater harvesting and waste recycling promote eco-friendly living practices.
  • Combating Urban Heat Islands – Development plans for townships include extensive green areas, tree-lined streets, natural or artificial water bodies, and renewable energy sources to combat heat accumulation. By securing these advantages, integrated townships ensure that the area remains eco-friendly – now and in the future.

breathing

Tips for Prospective Home Buyers to Avoid Air Pollution Risks

  • Begin by examining air quality data for different regions. This information is often accessible through environmental monitoring agencies or online air quality indices. Check websites that offer real-time air quality updates to evaluate current atmospheric conditions.
  • When selecting locations, consider the presence of green spaces. Look for areas close to parks, reserved forests, and other open green zones, as they result in better overall air quality. Don’t choose a home in a project too close to a highway or an industrial zone, or prone to traffic bottlenecks. Also note that elevated areas often offer better air quality because heavy pollution smog primarily settles in low-lying areas.
  • Evaluate the condition of roads and public transportation as this will determine how much emissions accumulate in an area. Do internet research and check news to review the area’s infrastructure and future development plans to anticipate changes that could impact air quality.
  • When checking out a home, find out if it has adequate cross-ventilation and good green home features. Energy-efficient homes typically provide better air quality thanks to their sealed and insulated environments.
    You can, to some extent, enhance indoor air quality by using indoor plants. But this is obviously a very minimal solution to a major problem

In conclusion

With air quality playing an important role in home purchasing choices, buyers must prioritize features that ensure a clean and healthy living environment.

By picking the right location and project, you can protect your and your family’s well-being and still enjoy the conveniences of modern life. Opting for integrated township living is a wise decision amid rapidly declining air quality in urban India. In any case, make any housing with a lot of research and awareness about air quality.

And remember – the clean environment you get in a currently green but quickly developing suburb may not be guaranteed tomorrow. Ensure that your loved ones can breathe freely – not only today but also in the future.

Vedanta Aluminium Expands Alumina Refining Capacity To 3.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA)

Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, today announced a major milestone in its ongoing expansion efforts to be amongst the top 3 global players with 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of aluminium production capacity. In a significant step towards achieving 100% vertical integration, the company today announced the successful commissioning of the new 1.5 MTPA expansion at its world-class alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha. With this, the alumina refinery’s production capacity has now increased to 3.5 MTPA from the existing 2 MTPA. This additional 1.5 MTPA capacity is a part of the company’s ongoing expansion to take the overall nameplate capacity at the Lanjigarh refinery from the current 2 MTPA to 5 MTPA, to support its increasing aluminium production.

Vedanta’s Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh, Odisha

 Vedanta Aluminium offers one of the largest ranges of high-quality aluminium products in the world, including India’s first low-carbon ‘green’ aluminium range, branded Restora. These products find critical applications in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defence, infrastructure, power projects, electricals, and packaging, amongst others. The company is also one of the largest producers of premier smelter grade alumina (SGA) in India, a key raw material for the company’s aluminium plants in Jharsuguda (Odisha) and BALCO (Chhattisgarh).

 John Slaven, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium, said “We are delighted to commission the expanded capacity which strengthens our raw material security and reduces costs for our Jharsuguda and BALCO aluminium smelters. It is a significant step towards 100% vertical integration and strongly positions us for sustainable growth within the global aluminium market.”

 Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in key industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1 st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.

HERO REALTY goes green

HERO REALTY goes green

This World Environment Day, Hero Homes, NCR’s first ‘CARE A+’ rating realty company, pledges support to strengthen the global environment and organized a massive plantation drive across all project sites to promote the Go Green Campaign. The ‘Go Green’ campaign was conceptualized to uphold collective participation in creating a sustainable and environment-friendly world.

The Hero team leadership planted saplings to facilitate purified air and green surroundings in all the prime site locations to posit a strong message of environmental sustenance build-up.

The plantation drives were carved on the lines of a bigger campaign to channelise green energy and its power to create a resilient ecosystem where all living beings can co-exist peacefully without causing any collateral damage to any living species.

On the massive plantation drive, Dharmesh Shah, CEO Hero Homes, said, “Creating a clean and healthy place for future generations is our responsibility. Small acts of ecologically responsible behaviour are seeds of bigger changes in future. The plantation drive was a voluntary effort to make people cognizant about the drastic climate changes and how we can curb it by taking small but sincere steps to reach the ultimate goal.”

Hero Homes is one of the leading real estate developers of North India. The Group is well-known for developing massive residential projects and industrial parks in locations like Haridwar, Ludhiana, Delhi NCR and Mohali. Sustainable Development is at the core of every project taken up by Hero Homes which are built on the ethos of ‘Reuse, Reduce and Recycle’.