Telangana Opens State Climate Centre for Cities, Launches Urban Climate Atlas

Telangana has set up a dedicated institutional platform to steer climate action across its towns and cities, with the inauguration of the State Climate Centre for Cities at the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) office in Hyderabad on Thursday.

The centre, described as the first initiative of its kind, has been established under the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) Programme 2.0. It is intended to make urban planning more responsive to climate concerns and to speed up sustainable development across Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the State.

CDMA T.K. Sreedevi inaugurated the centre and also launched the Telangana Urban Climate Atlas, a digital platform that maps urban climate risks and vulnerabilities.

As the State's nodal platform for climate-related knowledge, data management and technical support to municipalities, the centre will handle climate data management, greenhouse gas emissions assessment, and climate risk and vulnerability studies. It will also prepare climate action plans and work on pressing urban problems such as heat islands and urban flooding.

Beyond research and planning, the centre is expected to build municipal capacity and weave climate considerations into urban policies, infrastructure development and day-to-day decision-making by civic bodies.

According to the CDMA, the centre will help ULBs draft their own climate action plans and consolidate them into an Integrated State Climate Action Plan. It will also support climate-responsive budgeting, allowing municipalities to identify climate-related expenditure and steer future investments towards sustainability goals.

The Urban Climate Atlas brings together spatial data on climate risks, vulnerabilities, emissions and urban services on a single platform. By letting municipal officials view climate risks geographically, it is expected to enable evidence-based planning, pinpoint vulnerable areas, prioritise investments and shape localised climate action strategies.