India’s Green Wind Drive Hits Desert Shepherds Hard – News

In this photo taken August 7, 2024, goats graze near windmills on the outskirts of the city of Jaisalmer in the desert state of Rajasthan, India. — AFP

Swirling wind turbines in India’s Thar Desert provide vital green energy for the world’s most populous country, but those living in their shadow say it comes at their expense.

It illustrates the difficult balance India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is struggling to expand its non-fossil fuel options to stem the growing impacts of climate change.

“Big companies came here and built windmills, but they are useless to us,” said Nena Ram, a 65-year-old shepherd, describing an age-old agricultural system that has been upended by the giant turbines.

In this August 6, 2024, photo, farmer Nena Ram is seen speaking to AFP in the village of Sanwata near Jaisalmer in the desert state of Rajasthan, India. — AFP

The country is grappling with increasing devastation from heatwaves, floods and droughts, phenomena that climatologists say are being exacerbated by rising global temperatures.

Meanwhile, residents of areas used for renewable energy production say their needs have been sacrificed for the common good.

In the western state of Rajasthan, where most of the Thar Desert is located, this has involved the loss of grazing land and the destruction of sacred groves known as orans.

Oases in the desert, protected by the local community for centuries, collect water necessary for an economy based on the breeding of camels, cattle and goats.

However, shepherds say heavy construction trucks are destroying water sources, damaging pastures and further drying out the land.

What farmers like Ram contribute to greenhouse gas emissions is a far cry from what India’s coal-intensive heavy industry giants emit.

He struggles with a brutal double punch.

First it was hit by the consequences of climate change. Then it was struck down by mitigation efforts to combat them.

Hundreds of wind turbines are dotted across the desert around Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan, one of the largest onshore wind farms in India.

Rajasthan has the capacity to supply five gigawatts (GW) of wind power to the grid, according to government data.

Many of the turbines are owned by Indian conglomerates, including Adani Group and Suzlon.

The companies say they are supporting India’s move to renewable energy while also providing support to communities affected by the construction.

Suzlon says it provides “sustainable development to villages around its wind farms,” including healthcare, education and livestock support projects.

Adani says the company is “deeply engaged” with communities, supporting schools and clean water programs.

However, farmers complain that the turbines were built on community pastures.

Milk production has also declined.

“Farmers are paying the price,” said Jitendra Kumar, a local clinic worker.

“Their land has been taken away. Windmills occupy land intended for cattle grazing.”

Power lines cut through the desert around Jaisalmer. The district has a population of about 670,000, according to the latest census.

However, there are frequent power outages, sometimes lasting several days.

Residents say electricity is being used to meet growing demand in industrial centres and large cities.

In this August 6, 2024 photo, local environmental activist Sumer Singh Bhati (left) speaks to AFP in the village of Sanwata near Jaisalmer in the desert state of Rajasthan, India. — AFP

“We are living in darkness,” said local environmental activist Sumer Singh Bhati.

“We only have electricity for two hours a day… We desperately need light.”

Power cuts are unbearable in the summer. Temperatures sometimes reach 50 degrees Celsius.

India has experienced its longest heatwave on record this year, government weather experts say.

They warn that temperatures will become increasingly higher and more burdensome in the future.

India aims to increase its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and has committed to achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2070 – two decades after most of the industrialised West.

Renewable energy plants are being built at a breakneck pace, rising from 76 GW to 203 GW in the past decade, according to government data. About a quarter of that comes from wind.

However, achieving the 500 GW renewable energy target requires massive expansion.

These statistics mean little to villagers living near the towers, who call them “the encroachment of white structures.”

Environmental activists say that while the desert may seem like a dead zone to outsiders, it is actually an area of ​​great biodiversity.

Species revered by local communities, such as the endangered Great Indian bustard, are threatened with extinction.

Once common, giant brown and white birds fly into the grid of overhead power lines.

In this August 7, 2024 photo, Ecological Rural Development Society activist Parth Jagani speaks to AFP at his home in Jaisalmer, in the desert state of Rajasthan, India. — AFP

Parth Jagani, an environmental activist from Jaisalmer, said the number of patients had declined dramatically in the past 25 years, to just 150 in the country.

“When windmills and high-tension wires were installed, the mortality rate increased,” Jagani said.

In 2021, the Supreme Court ordered power lines to be placed underground in key bird breeding zones.

However, the government filed a petition and overturned the decision, arguing that it would make it harder to achieve renewable energy targets.

The villagers erected a monument to commemorate this bird – a statue of a lonely bustard.

“If they take away our birds and animals, what will we do?” said Ram, smoothing his bushy gray mustache.

“How will we survive?”