Ghaziabad Follows Chandigarh Lead in Solar with Mandatory Installations

Ghaziabad, which has grown tremendously in the past decade as part of the NCR region, often at the expense of the environment, may finally be waking up to need to balance growth with a greener approach.

A new order is likely this month that will make it compulsory for all government and semi-government offices on an area greater than 1000 sqm to install solar energy setups on their rooftops. In doing this, the massive district will follow Chandigarh, the union territory which has also mandated a much broader rule, that mandates solar installations from a plot size of 500 yards onwards. The big question is, when will Noida and Greater Noida follow?

The order for Ghaziabad is likely to be announced by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

“The state government has asked development authorities across Uttar Pradesh to incorporate amendments made in the Uttar Pradesh Energy Conservation Building Code 2018 (UPECBC) in its bylaws. We will place the same in our board meeting on June 25,” said Ishtiyaque Ahmad, chief architect and town planner of the authority.

“For plot owners with sizes over 1000 sqm or a covered area of more than 2000 sqm, solar power should meet 1% of the peak power demand of such buildings”, said the government spokesperson.

Till now, the UPECBC rule was applicable to government and semi-government buildings with an area over 5000 sqm and private commercial buildings on a minimum 25% of rooftop area. Residential units under group housing societies, which have so far been exempted from the rules, might be brought under the amended code too.

Besides the question of Noida and Greater Noida,  other large districts with a high industrial presence like Kanpur, Lucknow, etc also need to be encouraged to go solar. Noida and Greater Noida especially need to consider the issue of starting at plot sizes of 500 sq yards rather than 1000 sq yards. These districts might be a good test case for encouraging storage plus solutions too, especially for clubs, and other community buildings.