Hyderabad was awarded the prestigious World Green Cities Award on Friday, beating out Paris, Bogota, Mexico City, Montreal, and Fortaleza in Brazil. The award, presented at a dinner event in Jeju, Republic of Korea, honors ‘nature-oriented approaches to city design and operation.’
The award is given by the Association Internationale des Producteurs de l’Horticulture (AIPH) to recognize outstanding practices in landscaping, plant cultivation, and flower cultivation. The six category winners and the overall winner were announced at a special gala dinner during the IUCN Leaders Forum in Jeju.
The Grand Winner was chosen from a group of six Category Winners, each of whom was awarded a trophy in recognition of their accomplishment.
The AIPH also recognized Hyderabad in the category of ‘Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth.’ The award was given in recognition of the state’s ‘Telangana Ku Haritha Haram’ program, a large-scale tree-planting operation that began in 2015-16. According to the grant, “the initiative seeks to enhance the state’s tree cover from 24% to 33% of total geographical area.”
The World Green Cities Award was given to Hyderabad as one of the criteria for “initiatives focusing on a greater use of plants and nature to build better city settings – aiding in meeting local objectives for higher economic, social, and environmental resilience.”
The achievement was lauded by KT Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, as well as Special Chief Secretary, MA&UD Arvind Kumar. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was ecstatic to learn that the city has been recognized by the prestigious “International Association of Horticulture Producers” (AIPH).
He claimed both Telangana’s and the country’s status had improved as a result of the overseas recognition. “These global awards show that the state administration is diligently implementing the Haritaharam and urban development initiatives… providing green fruits to the country,” he said late Friday in a statement.
It fills him with pleasure because Hyderabad is the only Indian city to receive these worldwide distinctions.
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