Green infrastructure as an important catalyst for sustainable development

Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that protects, restores, or mimics the natural water cycle. Green infrastructure is effective, economical, and enhances community safety and quality of life. It means planting trees and restoring wetlands, rather than building a costly new water treatment plant. It means choosing water efficiency instead of building a new water supply dam. It means restoring floodplains instead of building taller levees. Green infrastructure incorporates both the natural environment and engineered systems to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife. Growing awareness has made authorities and companies more conscious about the importance of protecting the environment and sustaining resources for future. Therefore, this paper tries to light the relevance, benefits, and strategies of going green in the highly prospective infrastructure sector of the economy. Furthermore, industry players are increasingly finding the implementation of green practices to be a commercially viable option as they are now able to curb escalating costs of construction. At this juncture, government support and dissemination of information are required to make Indian infrastructure sustainable. The Central Government has been quick in dealing with the hassels faced by most infrastructure companies while seeking approval for their projects. However, the environmental factors have been largely ignored while modifying the existing norms.