Hyderabad: Telangana will soon set up a body to address issues of environment and it would function on the lines of a similar agency in Tokyo, said state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao today.

'Clean Authority of Telangana', to be set up on the lines of one existing in Tokyo, will address issues of environment, he said. "...Telangana will be the first state in India to be creating its own clean authority. We recently entered (into) an MoU in Tokyo...(to set up the body)," Rao said.

"We are going to institute the same kind of mechanism (which exists in Tokyo). We will be setting up several waste- to-energy projects in the state of Telangana," he said, speaking at the 66th National Town and Country Planner's Congress here.

According to the MoU signed last month, the government of Telangana and the Clean Authority of Tokyo would "exchange information on knowledge in municipal solid waste incineration facilities", a state government statement said last month.

They will "make an effort to realise human resource exchanges in view of technical cooperation in the future", it had said. The congress was organised by the Institute of Town Planners, India (ITPI), the apex body of qualified professional town and country planners. Highlighting the violations in building norms often witnessed, the minister said the state government would bring in more stringent rules vis-a-vis construction of buildings.

"We will also bring in a lot of very, very important reforms. We brought in important reforms already. But, I promise you, we will bring in much more stringent norms which will not allow builders and people to construct (buildings) in a haphazard manner..." Rao said.

Describing cities as "engines of growth", Rao said issues related to administration and development of urban centres should be handled effectively. Urban planners should give practical suggestions to the governments and in a manner that facilitates planned development, the minister said. Citizens should be able to walk to work with urban growth taking place in a planned manner, he stressed, adding the planners should also leverage technology. (PTI)