Maharashtra Bags Award At COP26 For Climate Action
NDTV
Maharashtra's entry had highlighted how the state government had succeeded in creating a culture of climate action in Maharashtra, which has borne expenses worth $2 billion due to climate-related disasters during the past year.
Maharashtra has bagged the Inspiring Regional Leadership Award from Under2 Coalition for Climate Action and became the only Indian state to win one of the three awards by U2 in Scotland. Aditya Thackeray, Maharashtra's Environment Minister, received the award on behalf of the state.
Speaking in Glasgow, the minister said, "This state wants to lead the way in India to tackle climate change. The Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) is a passionate wildlife enthusiast and conservationist, and he has given us the opportunity to dream of a better future, a greener future. We have started with a movement called Majhi Vasundhara, which means My Planet. We are focussing on the traditional five elements of nature."
The minister also spoke about how the state government was looking at clean energy and moving away from conventional energy like thermal or coal energy. "Just recently we've solarised a highway and we will be generating 250 MW of energy. We have put out the tender document and we will be generating 250MW solar energy from the new highway between Mumbai and Nagpur."
On a personal note, he added, "My name Aditya also means the sun and in India, we have been worshipping the sun god as the seed of the universe. In most of our ancient texts, the sun god holds a primary position."
