I am convinced that the Right to Energy should be declared a Fundamental Right. Or, at best, energy should be added to the list of Directive Principles of State Policy. After all, how can a society be just if 40 percent of people have no power? Are they supposed to languish away their lives in deprivation and darkness?
It’s not impossible to give access to electricity to every Indian, despite its formidable population. Consider this:
Transmission losses in our production system figure at an unacceptable 30-40 percent. There is so much theft and misuse of electricity. Then there are distribution losses. Poor maintenance of the grid and sub-stations eats into power availability. All these lead to widespread power outages and chronic power deficits.
The demand for energy is already outstripping supply and the growth of demand is faster than the growth of supply. India’s installed power generation capacity stood at 147,000 MW whereas the total demand for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.
About 400 million people in India do not have access to electricity. This looks a little anachronistic because India is also the world’s sixth largest energy consumer.
More production alone is not going to solve all our energy requirements. Energy conservation and energy efficiency are the desperate need of the times.
More conventional production means more exploitation of the earth, with all its attendant environmental and ecological impacts. Whenever energy is saved, you not only save money but you also cut the demand for exhaustible fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
Less burning of fossil fuels leads to lower CO2 emissions, the main factor of global warming and pollution.
Today, energy conservation and efficiency have to be implemented right from the production and transmission of energy stages till its usage phase.
There are innumerable ways to save energy. The actions of countless millions can translate into stupendous economies for the country. It is a question of instilling it in our culture. Each of us can do one’s bit.
This was demonstrated during the Earth Hour initiative. That was a deliberate and dedicated effort to highlight the cause and it demonstrated the power of numbers engaging in concerted action.
But it should not just boil down to a ritual. It should become our second nature. We have to create many Earth Hours in our daily lives.
While the government is doing its part to increase supply to meet the growing demand in every sector, what are we doing to stop waste, wanton disregard for our surroundings and wilful damage to our environment?
We need to realise that personal contribution is at the base of our global campaign to save the planet. There are so many simple steps we can take and adopt as our habits, for instance:
· Switch off lights, fans and AC when not needed by anyone.
· Do not waste water. Electricity is used to transport water to homes. A dripping hot water tap wastes more energy.
· Switch off television when no one is watching it.
· Keep the doors and windows closed when using AC.
· Don’t leave appliances on standby and don’t keep appliances on charge unnecessarily.
· Use energy saving bulbs.
Unless each one of us becomes conscious and develops the habit of not wasting energy when not needed, we will never be able to implement these habits.
We cannot expect the government to serve us solutions to all our problems on a platter. As conscious and conscientious citizens, we owe it to our society and future generations to continue to maintain the system where our natural and national resources are utilised to the optimum and made available to everyone.
