noida the noida authoritys wasteland to wetland project in sector 91 has been selected as the winner of the best urban development project greenfield development category of smart city awards 2019 to be given by the ministry of housing and urban affairs mohua on january 10the citys project for retrofitting of 74000 streetlights with led lights has also been selected as a cowinner in the best climate smart city project category the smart city empowering india awards is being given in 16 categories to authorities and private bodies across the country that are working on innovative projectsthe noida authority is developing sector 91 as lungs of noida with 146 acres of green space the area will have a biodiversity park city forest herbal garden and a wetlandstrategically located close to the noidagreater noida expressway and across sector 137 metro station the area is expected to become an ecotourism hub of ncr the four areas will become a cohesive spot for the green loverssector 91 already has a city forest spread over 35 acres and herbal and medicinal garden across 24 acres that was completed just last year a 75acre biodiversity park largest in the city is nearing completion with plantation of over 5000 trees the authority has also revived a wetland spread over 12 acres adjoining the herbal garden we started working on this project when nobody across ncr had envisioned such a huge continuous green space meanwhile we have planned it around some of the most densely populated residential area of the city that has great real estate value we are trying to set an example that forests and green open areas are essential for pollution control and better future environment for the city said rajeev tyagi general manager noida authoritythe second category is awarded to noida for large energy as well as cost savings over this period a total of 187 lakh tonnes of carbon emissions are expected to be reduced with 56 energy savings the total savings in terms of cost is also estimated to be rs 27684 crore the authority is now saving rs 387 crore annually in electricity bill and rs 1763 crore in maintenance of streetlights