Click to play videoToday is World Environment Day. And close on the heels of the UN warning that the world has just eight years left to save itself - we focus on global warming. The way out for which is to look for alternatives for energy production.
Srinagar (J&K): In a village house near the International Border, Raj Kumar takes pride in his new possession - a small device that has rescued him from many a powerless nights.
Kumar, who lives in Rangoor, owns a solar home lantern, which he carries off to the fields, which works as a study companion for his kids, and also a source of light for the entire household. The sun energy is being harnessed in many rural and border villages of Jammu and Kashmir where electricity otherwise is a rare commodity.
“We no longer wait for electricity. We charge these lights for two to three hours and then operate for 10 hrs at a stretch. Earlier I would spend over Rs 500 to Rs 660 only on candles,” says Ram Kumar.
Meanwhile, in Bal Shaama in Rajouri, a few hours away from Rangoor, the kuccha village path is now being strongly lit by solar streetlights. It is part of the state government's project to install solar light for 120 model villages in the state. Besides that, the Indian Army is also installing 1,000 more streetlights in other border and terrorism hit areas.
“We had never heard it that with the help of sun there could be electricity,” says a resident of Bal Shaama, Shyama Devi.
Another resident of Bal Shaama, Priyanka Humari, who is a student in a local adds, “I have read and seen it in the books that solar energy is being used.”
J&K has hydropower potential of 20,000 mega watts and unfortunately, only a mere 300 mega watts is being utilised. The state has a deficit of 600 mega watts, and also over 133 villages and 61,000 hamlets have yet to be electrified. In such a dark power scenario, solar power is a small grace now.
“The many villages which are in the hilly terrain. And there is no way that electricity poles could have reached. Therefore only solar lights are a solution for these areas,” says Assistant Chief Executive officer, Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development agency, P N Dhar.
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