From Annadaata to Urjadaata…is it the right strategy?

The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Union Budget 2020, has given high importance to the promotion of solar pumps- 20 lakh standalone and 15 lakh with grid, 35 lakh in total-in her budget speech. The minister made it clear that the fallow and barren land in villages, as well as unused land alongside railway tracks, will be utilized for the solar power generation, i.e., applying the solar panels. Although I welcome the move on promoting solar energy, with the following points, I caution that certain precautions would need to be taken, mainly finding alternative spaces for installing the solar panels.

1. By thumb rule, for generating 1 megawatt of energy, panels have to be installed on an area of 1 hectare. Considering this, the promotion of solar panels may end up reducing the village commons and fallow lands which play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem balance and rainfall runoff-recharge cycle. The view seems to be that, barren and fallows lands are not useful, and therefore encroach it for the developmental projects, where the village commons across the country are already in danger due to official and unofficial encroachments.

In my view, the alternative space can be —
a) the canals and water reservoirs may be an appropriate choice to install the solar panels and reduce the evaporation of water as a secondary outcome, and
b) state and national highways can be covered with roofs of solar panels which can work as both energy generation and roof-water harvesting of rainfall.

2. Many studies and experiments show that although solar energy can deliver additional benefits to farmers, it has negative impacts on groundwater levels. In hard rock basalt aquifers, the promotion of solar pumps may result in further depleting the groundwater resource.

3. A few important measures have been mentioned by the minister, such as warehouses and storages for food productions at the village level, cold storages, balanced use of fertilizers and horticulture development. I welcome them. However, it will be difficult for the farmers’ income to be doubled in 2022, without providing reasonable market rates for produces and making adequate water available for irrigation. The 16-point program does not have that many measures to boost the income of rainfed farmers-who cultivate more than 50 % of agricultural land in India. Therefore, along with the promotion of solar energy, the focus could be given to these fundamental issues.

Therefore, although solar energy, being a source of renewable energy, has certain advantages for ensuring a clean environment, we need to be cautious that its promotion doesn’t result in affecting the availability of important resources, such as groundwater and the village commons as well as fallow land lands.