Sarbananda Sonowal launches Haritsagar guidelines for reducing carbon emissions in ports sector

New Delhi: Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday launched green port guidelines, ‘HaritSagar’, as part of efforts to meet the larger vision of achieving zero carbon emission goal.

HaritSagar Guidelines envisage ecosystem dynamics in port development, operation and maintenance while aligning with the 'working with nature' concept and minimising impact on biotic components of the harbour ecosystem, the Ports, Shipping and Waterways minitry said in a statement.

The guidelines emphasise the use of clean or green energy in port operation, developing port capabilities for storage, handling and bunkering greener fuels such as green hydrogen and green ammonia, it said.

The guidelines provide a framework for major ports for drawing out a comprehensive action plan for achieving targeted outcomes in terms of quantified reduction in carbon emission over defined timelines, through focused implementation and close monitoring of green Initiatives and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The objective of guidelines is to minimise waste through reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle to attain zero waste discharge from port operations and promote monitoring, based on environmental performance indicators, the ministry said.

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Secretary Sudhansh Pant said India's four major ports of Deendayal Port, Visakhapatnam Port, New Mangalore Port and VOC Port are already generating renewable energy more than their demand.

"From now onwards our ports will be able to evaluate themselves on the environmental indicators to know their capability in the environmental aspects, " he added.

During the event, the major ports were conferred awards for their all-time best performance on select operational and financial parameters during FY2022-23.