Defence infra projects to focus on energy conservation, reducing carbon footprint: Indian Army officer

New Delhi [India], June 11 (ANI): Amid steps taken by the government to protect the environment, a top military officer has said that future defence infrastructure projects should be aligned with these measures and the focus should be on conserving energy sources along with reducing carbon footprint.
"While defence forces have always remained in forefront of greening the desert and barren areas, sustainable development is of prime importance and to address the environmental concerns, defence infrastructure development has to be aligned accordingly," said Indian Army's Engineer-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Harpal Singh.
The officer was speaking at the valedictory function of the Group A Military Engineering Services officers and their induction on Friday.
He said in this regard, "Renewable energy, conservation of water and energy resources and reduction of carbon footprint have to be focus areas and their importance cannot be overemphasized in the planning of defence projects."
Recently, on World Environment Day which was celebrated on June 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a number of measures have been taken by his government to protect the environment, adding that India's efforts have been multi-dimensional despite the country having a negligible role in climate change.
Lieutenant General Harpal said, "In view of the enhanced pace of modernization of our forces and induction of new equipment, time-bound delivery of quality and infrastructure facilities is an obvious prerequisite and critical need of the defence forces."
"MES must, therefore, strive to provide allied infrastructure support so that these equipment are installed seamlessly. Needless to mention here, project management is of vital importance and the development of a relevant database will be a significant step in this direction," he added.
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar was the chief guest at the function and urged the young officers to be innovative and use technology for finding solutions to the problems faced by the organisation. (ANI)