Biodiversity index of Greater Hyderabad will be released for the first time on Monday and the Andhra Pradesh Capital will be the first Indian city to do so.

As per evaluations, the city’s biodiversity index had got 33 points out of 93 parameters, said Krishna Babu, Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

However, the ranking will be subject to scrutiny by international and national organisations, he said.

“The index has been developed based on the data and information available with us. Hyderabad will be the first Indian city to announce biodiversity index. This would become benchmark henceforth,” he said at a press conference here.

The framework of the ‘City Biodiversity Index’ was formulated by participants at a workshop in February 2009 in Singapore. A technical task force was set up to fine-tune the indicators of the index and to make it user-friendly.

The index is designed to gauge the biodiversity conservation efforts of cities. It aims to serve as a self- assessment monitoring tool to promote better management of resources and conservation of biodiversity and overcome the problems of increased urbanisation, climate change and city planning and management.

As of now Brussels stood at the top of index with 55 points.

Replying to a query, the official said the GHMC has appointed a consultant to study and give suggestions on preserving lakes in the city.

Meanwhile, a summit on City and Sub-national Biodiversity will be held here on October 15-16. It is being parallel to the ongoing global meet — Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The summit is likely to bring together about 300 Mayors, Governors, top officials, global groups, UN agencies and specialists, among others, from across the world.

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