MoHUA committed to mitigate the pollution and congestion challenges ; Concerted efforts made for sustainable development

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs through its various Missions and programmes has adopted strategies to address the problems of large cities struggling with pollution, congestion and poor quality of life. Though Land and Colonization including disaster management are State subjects, Government is taking appropriate measures to update hazard risk information and make it easily available to the critical infrastructure sectors to make it easily available to the critical infrastructure sectors to make projects more disaster resilient. Efforts are also being made to mainstream sustainable development and climate actions. Ministry has undertaken various initiatives, major ones include:

S. No.	Major Initiatives
1.	Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines were issued in 2015 addressing ‘Climate Change Mitigation’
2.	Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016 were circulated, which include standards on construction of disaster resilient buildings for guidance of the State and UT Governments.
3.	All cities are required to have disaster and climate resilient Master Plans focusing on planned development and adhering to norms and standards as prescribed in URDPFI Guidelines, 2014 and Model Building Bye Laws, 2016.
4.	Materials & Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) has developed a digital atlas that captures the vulnerability of various parts of the country to different hazards. It presents digitized district-wise Hazard Maps with respect to earthquakes, winds and floods for identification of vulnerable areas.
5.	National Mission of Sustainable Habitat 2021-30 was launched addressing “Climate Change: Hazards and Vulnerabilities”
6.	The Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0 has been launched under the Smart Cities Mission in September 2021- an assessment framework on climate-relevant parameters that will serve as a tool for cities to assess their present situation and will facilitate them to adopt, implement and disseminate best practices.
7.	The Climate Centre for Cities (C-cube) at National Institute of Urban Affairs set up in June 2O21 aims to create synergy in Indian cities through various stakeholders, to consolidate institutionalize & mainstream the learning from experiences in various Indian cities on climate for a better future & healthy environment.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs