Notes from India: Greenathon Raises Funds for Solar Lights
“Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack access to electricity; roughly 25 per cent are in India alone. For these people, life comes to a standstill after dusk. Inadequate lighting is not only an impediment to progress and development opportunities, but also has a direct impact on the health, environment, and safety of millions of people, as they are forced to light their homes with kerosene lamps, dung cakes, firewood, and crop residue after sunset.” — Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL)
One of India’s biggest green events, the Greenathon, aired recently on NDTV (a leading Indian television station). The purpose was to raise money to support a program sponsored by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). TERI’s “Lighting a Billion Lives” (LaBL) initiative is working to “provide solar lanterns to villages that would otherwise be without electricity for a decade or more.”
The Greenathon was a 24-hour live event that started on February 7, 2009 and continued through February 8. It was telecast on all NDTV channels “to raise awareness about the environment and find ways to create a cleaner, greener tomorrow.” The event featured India’s leading actors, business leaders, activists, designers, NGOs, teachers, and school children. By the end of the Greenathon, donors had pledged more than Rs 2 crore ($400,000 US) to supply solar-powered lanterns to villagers in remote areas of India.
The event highlighted the efforts of several celebrities, who contributed in different ways toward the cause. Following are a few examples from the official Greenathon website:
- Milind Soman, an actor and model ran 60 kms to raise awareness for the cause.
- Other celebrities performed dance numbers, sang, planted trees, “adopted” villages, cleaned the streets, and much more.
“The Campaign aims to bring light into the lives of one billion rural people by replacing the kerosene and paraffin lanterns with solar lighting devices,” according to the LaBL website. “This will facilitate education of children; provide better illumination and kerosene-smoke-free indoor environment for women to do household chores; and provide opportunities for livelihoods both at the individual level and at village level.”
So far, some 2,600 solar-powered lanterns are being used in 40 villages (in India and Myanmar), with 2 more villages in process. The cost of a single lantern is Rs 3600 or $90 US. Interested persons may donate by visiting the LaBL website.
Each solar lantern saves —
- 40-60 liters of kerosene/year
- 100 Billion Rupees burned each year in kerosene and wick lamps.”
Things are starting to look “greener” for India.
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