In 1914, the total power generation from Solar plants in the country was 6,000 MW. Today, after 10 years, it has increased to 85,000 MW! At present, almost 70% of the country’s total electricity needs are fulfilled through fossil fuels (coal and others). The target is to see renewable energy sources being increased to have achieved a 57% share of the total installed power generation capacity by 2027, downsizing that of the fossil fuel.
If we split the data into respective sources of renewal energy component, the projected figures by the said year 2027 would be around 52,446 megawatts from large hydropower; 185566 MW, solar; 72895 MW, wind; 5,200 MW, small hydro-units; 13,000 MW, biomass. The final figure after the projected increment for coal would be 235,133 MW; for gas and nuclear, it is 24,824 and 13,080 MW, respectively.
In light of increasing power consumption, which has resulted in pollution recently, the country has witnessed unprecedented hikes in constructing renewable energy power plants all around. This is so much so that, lying at the highest point in the world, which is 17,000 feet above sea level in Laddakh, solar plants with 5,000 MW capacity are coming up.
Experts claim this would save the country from the projected emission of 12,750 tons of carbon. A solar-wind power plant with a capacity of 30,000 MW to be built on the desert of Kachchh of Gujarat, a size as vast as Singapore, is another achievement that could be a showcase to the world from Bharat.
The government is thus moving ahead with its goal. This alone could not be enough without active public participation if we want the climate to be clean with the fulfilment of our energy needs. Of course, people are also doing that. So much so that even those who bear the responsibility of bringing into execution on the ground what the government plans.
On the Bhopal-Indore road of the state of MP lies a town named Sehore, the district’s headquarters. To inspire the common people for the plantation drive on World Environment Day, the Collector of the district, Praveen Singh, initiated the tree plantation drive first from his residence and his own family! Keeping on the forefront, his son, Ranvijay, and daughter, Samruddhi, he planted mango, blackberry and jackfruit saplings in the government residential campus.
Thereafter, he called upon the citizens to plant at least one tree. Mahavir Swami says, ‘Earth, water, and air are very life-form; therefore, be one with them, as well. Collector Praveen Singh emulated the message of Mahavir Swamy with his entire family in the true sense.
