Vertical Gardens: A Green Solution to Urban Challenges

A pre-Budget document advocates for explicit guidelines to integrate vertical gardens into urban development, emphasizing their potential to address urban heat islands, pollution, and carbon emissions. The Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code 2024 supports sustainable building, with calls for more tailored vertical garden regulations, aligning India with global leaders.

The government has been urged to establish explicit guidelines for incorporating vertical gardens into urban development, as recommended in a pre-Budget document presented in Parliament on Friday.

The report highlights vertical gardens, or living walls, as an effective solution to issues arising from rapid urbanization, such as urban heat islands, increased carbon emissions, and air pollution.

While current regulations, like the Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code 2024, promote sustainable building practices, the document underscores the necessity for specific guidelines for vertical gardens to bring India in line with countries like Singapore, Japan, and the EU.

The Income Tax Department's initiative of creating vertical gardens from over 700,000 waste plastic bottles across 17 states exemplifies the environmental and aesthetic benefits of these installations, which improve thermal performance, sequester carbon, and enhance biodiversity in dense urban areas.

(With inputs from agencies.)