Mumbai : Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) celebrated “World Environment Day” with a 4-day-long activity and giveaways at the airport. From 4th June to 7th June 2022, passengers, employees and stakeholders were all part of the fervor to spread the ‘Go Green’ message. To commemorate the occasion, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Departments’ of CSMIA organised a plantation drive today with10 saplings.
As part of the theme “Only One Earth”, CSMIA undertook initiatives to engage the passengers through a plethora of activities at the airport, which further echos the importance of the day. 1,300 plantable stationery sets were distributed among passengers, which contained plantable pens and pencils with seeds in a capsule on the top of it. 500 plants from CSMIA’s inhouse nursery were also given to the passengers as a souvenir. To encourage and pass on the messaging to its personnel, a webinar was conducted on world environment day for all the employees, where Dr. Sanchita Jindal, Former Adviser (Scientist ‘G’), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was the keynote speaker. The employees and stakeholders of CSMIA also participated in fun online quizzes on environment awareness. At the end of the course of event, employees who were observed to go-beyond their call of duty to maintain the sustenance at the airport – such as reduce water wastage, rescue birds trapped within the terminal or worked for carbon emission reduction related project planning and implementation were all felicitated by the Chief Executive Officer and Head of Departments’ of CSMIA.
The Aviation industry is a significant contributor to carbon and GHG emissions in the environment, and being a part of this industry, CSMIA, has always focused on carbon neutrality, energy saving, emission reduction, and climate action, since inception. The airport has integrated emission-related concerns within its operational agenda as well. CSMIA offers a holistic approach towards sustainable operations and has carried out various initiatives under environment management. These include airport carbon management system, airport carbon neutrality, sustainability reporting, renewable energy installations, wastewater recycling, effective waste management system, organic waste treatment, amongst others. CSMIA keeps a close check on noise management, air quality monitoring, waste management and climate change, which helps minimize the aviation industry’s impact on the environment.
CSMIA in FY2022 initiated installation of Vertical axis wind turbine & solar PV system, (which is estimated to generate 13140 KWh/annum for 25 years), utilized renewable (Solar and wind) power and replaced CO2 based fire extinguishers with non-CO2 based (ABC type) fire extinguisher to reduce the carbon emissions. Optimization of Diesel Generator set operation and monitoring requirements to reduce Diesel consumption was also included as part of carbon emission reduction initiative. Along with this, activities of airside such as, runway re-carpeting, upgradation and strengthening of taxiways, development of rapid exit taxiways etc., through different constructions were undertaken.
In addition to this, CSMIA initiates to maintain 100% recycling of treated wastewater for cooling, landscaping, washing etc. CSMIA has a capacity of 26 Lakh Liters of rainwater tanks and 229 rainwater harvesting pits across the terminals for recharge of ground water table to ensure water efficiency. Onsite solar energy generation of 5461347 kWh, replacement of existing lighting fixtures by LED fixtures for all external lights resulting in a reduction in load contributed to reduced energy consumption at the airport and replacement of belt driven centrifugal fans with EC fans in Air Handling Units (AHUs) which improve the overall energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption, amongst others.
With CSMIA consistently making efforts to incorporate sustainable practices in it’s day to day operations, World Environment Day becomes a significant occasion to engage with the passengers and extend the spirit of green living with them through the campaign. The various initiatives undertaken are symbolic to the ethos of – we have only one Earth and we must all do our bid to protect and preserve the same for a healthy tomorrow.
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