Event reports
After the traditional lighting of the lamp, Ranjeet Mehta, Principal Director at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in his introductory remarks that due to huge pressure on the energy resources the need of sustainable development has been neglected. Further, he set the context of the conference by giving the background of Sikkim in terms of it being the first organic state of India. He stressed upon the importance to maintain the sanctity of the city and to keep the city livable for future generations with a strong focus on sustainable development and renewable energy.
Mr Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative of KAS, firstly addressed the gathering with the introduction of KAS and its cooperation with PHDCCI. In his welcome remarks, he mentioned about the protests all over Europe of young generation concerned with climate change in a major way, which also had impact on recent election in European Parliament and recorded huge increase in voters for the Green Party and affiliates where in the focus was sustainable development.
Mr Ashok Kumar Behera, Branch-in-charge, SIDBI, Gangtok began by introducing the role of Udayamimitra and SIDBI’s online platform, in which all types and levels of entrepreneurs/MSME can apply for loans as per their requirement and all these applications are accessible to lending organisations, as well as to handholding agencies. Thus, this network simplifies the process for entrepreneurs in the era of digitalization. The sites are: https://udyamimitra.in, https://www.standupmitra.in and www.smallb.in
Dr Nitya Nanda, Associate Director, Resource Efficiency & Governance, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) emphasized on the power sector of energy and resources. He mentioned that the Bhutanese hydropower model, while being a game changer for Bhutan, cannot be easily reciprocated in other places - including Sikkim or Nepal. He explained various differences between Bhutan and places like Nepal or Sikkim especially the cost and benefits of solar energy. Solar power is competing with coal and cheaper than hydropower but storage costs are even higher. He concluded with a solution of developing a new model with small hydro.
Mr Dilip Kumar Sharma, Additional Chief Engineer-Cum Nodal Officer (SDA), Energy & Power Department and Head Sikkim Renewable Energy Development Agency (SREDA), Govt. of Sikkim said that Sikkim is the second smallest state and is therefore among the fastest growing states of India. He stressed upon the fact that each state should develop their own model for energy as per the resources available to them. He also encouraged the use of renewable energy and said that energy conversation should be promoted. He also briefed about National Solar mission and the state solar policy, which does not have much scope in agriculture but can be used for domestic purpose and public utilities.
Presenting the holistic approach for sustainable development, Dr S. K. Dutta, Renowned Media Political Commentator on Govt. of India, BJP Issues & Commentator on Foreign Policy and Economic Issues said that in 21st century, it is important to have 100 percent coordination of central government with state governments along with local participation. He added Sikkim being organic and Swachh (Clean) has set an example, but there should be checks and balances to maintain the fragility of topography. Further he concluded that to make Sikkim a powerhouse of India or Northeastern states, young generation and women have to be empowered to be at par with the manpower.
Dr J.S. Sharma, Member, Expert Appraisal Committee, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India urged that central government should also allocate funds for climate change mitigation. He further emphasized on the evaluation or cost benefit analyses of resources produced by the mountain ecosystem and research for example the value of oxygen that is being generated by the vast forests of Sikkim. He also proposed an assessment study to determine minimum flow of water in the river, which can help making decision on hydro power.
He added that various indicators show climate rise is affecting Sikkim like rise in temperatures, reduction in crop production while use of adulterated fuel by unorganized transport section is polluting the air which should be addressed to maintain the quality of the air. He also suggested that more ropeways and electric vehicles should be deployed and new technologies should be used for constructing new roads and hydro dams, so that top soil is not disturbed.
Highlighting the potential of existing small hydro Dr P. C. Pant, Scientist-E, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Govt. of India raised a key question on the availability of resources. He said that an environment should be created where produced electricity should be consumed immediately due to limited scope of storage. He added, that Sikkim is a completely holistic sustainable model for it.
In his keynote address Dr. K. Jayakumar, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, and Head, Department of Science & Technology and Climate Change, Government of Sikkim extolled the Indian value system and said that India needs bottom-up approaches and developmental solutions, which should be interconnected with sustainable development of clean energy and resources and be refined with modern technology.
He further stressed upon the importance of execution of ideating and DoItYourself (DIY) for further development with zeal as it is critical to execute this.
The conference was followed by a question and answers session.