Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 9
Dimapur | May 9
Recognizing that development in North East India sits at crossroads, as the national government and private investors target the large hydro potential of the region, efforts are being made to find solutions that would not only provide modern services but also strengthen the social, economic, and eco systems of the region. One of the solutions is community based micro hydro.
In line with this, officials of renewable energy departments of the North East states, experts from the United States, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and representatives of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) came together on May 8 and 9 here to deliberate on the challenges and opportunities regarding community micro hydro in North East India. The two-day workshop was hosted by Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD) with support from International Rivers, a non-profit organization, at the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency.
“We hope that there will be increased awareness among decision makers and local stakeholders of bad and good micro hydro practices; and how micro hydro can trigger an alternative development model. We have explored probable next steps for alleviating sustainability issues with existing micro hydro projects and scaling successful pilot projects,” informed Dipti Vaghela, solutions coordinator, International Rivers.
On May 9, the participants were broken up into three groups each focusing on the following elements of sustainability and scalability: Policy, finance advocacy; Technology & capacity building; Community, environment, and productive use. Each group presented the issues and solutions they discussed. Some of them included migration of skilled people from communities, funding mechanism, need for capacity building of NGOs and village functionaries etc.
“We believe that small is beautiful, and that micro hydro projects could be a way to sustainably supply energy to remote villages, at the same time preserving the rich natural resource endowment of the North East,” asserted Menukhol John, team leader of NEPeD.
Since 2011, NEPeD has been independently fabricating a 3-kilowatt hydro turbine that is benefiting many roadside food stalls, farmers and village households in remote locations. It has implemented more than twenty projects in Nagaland, and a few in Meghalaya, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Director of MNRE, BK Bhatt, expressed that the workshop experience will help community participation and development of micro hydro program of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). He also assured that the Ministry will consider whatever suggestions the workshop comes up with, and directly finance community based projects.
“India has vast renewable energy potential, as well as sites where we can deploy low-impact, non-dam small hydropower turbines. We cannot afford to do more of the same when better options such as those manufactured by NEPeD are available to us,” added Bharat Lal Seth, South Asia Program Coordinator of International Rivers, based in New Delhi.
According to the concept note, the workshop wanted to help ensure that micro hydro in NE India includes a holistic approach that is built upon the region’s strong culture of community and strengthening watersheds/ecosystems. This approach must connect micro hydro implementation with a strategy for reducing poverty and drudgery, and increasing local economic development. The workshop called for a sustainable and scaled approach that transforms pilot projects into a robust, long-term program built upon local capacity building, quality assurance, productive use, and innovation. It also stressed on an advocating approach that reaches out to communities and other stakeholders.
