Aug. 1, 2017

New Delhi's city rail transit system, Delhi Metro Railway Corp. (DMRC) has been named the world's first completely "green" metro system.

The Indian Green Building Council awarded the capital's rail system the world-first status for adhering to the green building norms for its 10 residential colonies, reports Telesur.

The news is a silver lining as India's capital was rated the world's second most polluted city by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016.

Prem C. Jain, IGBC's chairman, praised the Delhi Metro for its environment-friendly initiatives.

“The platinum ratings they have got is very hard earned and a lot of toil has gone into the process," he said.

DMRC added new solar power facilities that produce 2.6 megawatts across the local metro network. It now generates 20 megawatts of solar power.

Metro officials said in a statement that this wasn't the first time it had received the green certification. Prior to receiving this platinum certification, DMRC received green certificates for Phase-3 stations, depots and substations.

Mangu Singh, DMRC's managing director, also highlighted the need for a "green transport" since the "transport sector, more so, the urban transport is one of the major users of energy."

“Energy consumption has increased by 700 percent in the last four decades in the country, and this will increase further three times by 2030," Singh said.

DMRC is also launching a new initiative, "Swachh Chetna - An Eco Club," in collaboration with a local school to "encourage school children to participate in environment-friendly activities."

Earlier this month, India's railway network rolled out its first train with rooftop solar panels, which power the lights, fans and information display systems inside passenger coaches.

Last year, India also canceled four coal-fired power projects. The country is also on track to be eight years ahead of its 2030 goal of using renewable energy to provide electricity to 40 percent of its population.