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Wind Power News: India
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Gale uproots windmill in Vallioor
Madurai: Vehicle users could not drive against the wind in parts of Vallioor and Kavalkinaru in Tirunelveli district. A wind turbine installation was knocked off by strong winds in a private windmill station at Ambalavanapuram village, Vallioor. In the impact the blades caught fire and was extinguished after an hour and half struggle. Several trees were uprooted and power poles were knocked down in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari. Farmers were worried about the loss to banana crop loss in . . . Complete story »
Protests in Gujarat against corporate projects that threaten people’s livelihoods and damage the environment
Major public protests in Gujarat in July and August have highlighted people’s growing discontent over the State’s prioritisation of industry over their rights. Four industry giants are in the line of fire from local people’s groups for mining, wind farms and hazardous chemical pollution. On July 5, there was a well-attended protest in south Gujarat’s tribal-dominated Tapi district against Hindustan Zinc’s proposed smelter plant. In accordance with the Centre’s environmental rules, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) organised a public . . . Complete story »
India’s clean energy push: Protests intensify in Kutch over windmill plant on forest land
Residents of Sanganara village of Kutch are spearheading a protest against further installation of windmills on their land, stating that the ecosystem and the livelihoods of farmers on the 500 sq kilometers of sacred groves is threatened by mass energy projects. As India makes its clean energy push to reach its 175 Gigawatt targets before 2022, wind power will account for 60 Gigawatt of the total generated power. As India aims to create a faster push in the process local . . . Complete story »
Kachchh villagers on vigil to save Sangnara forest from a windmill project
Wearing their traditional attire of bright and colourful chaniya-choli, a large number of women from villages in Kachchh district of Gujarat, gathered on the road leading to the Sangnara forest yesterday on August 6. “Jungle bachao” (save trees) read their placards as they marched to stop the construction of pawan chakki (wind mill) in their forest and on their common grazing land. At least 1,000 villagers gathered in protest against the erection of the windmills that are expected to lead . . . Complete story »
Residents of Gujarat village protest against windmills being set up on forestland
Natural resources have been destroyed in Kutch due to clean energy projects. Sangnara, a small village in Kutch, has been trying to save its forests from wind energy companies for the past two years as windmills were being installed on forestland, depriving people of greenery and natural resources. Kutch has been designated as an important wind energy exploitation zone, and in the past few years thousands of windmills have been put up by energy companies, leading to local conflicts in . . . Complete story »
This Gujarat village has been protesting to save the Sangnara Forest from a windmill project
The residents of Sangnara, a small village in f Kutch District of Gujarat have launched a protest against the installation of windmills in a nearby forest, for a renewable energy project. On Friday, a group of villagers occupied land allotted renewable energy firm Suzlon for the project near their village. What’s happening? According to the residents, the company has been expanding its footprint over the years on the land which is part of the community grazing land belonging to the . . . Complete story »
Caught in a maze of deadly power lines, a great Indian bird struggles for survival
When India was choosing its national bird in the early 1960s, the late Dr Salim Ali, the country’s preeminent ornithologist, backed an unlikely candidate – the great Indian bustard (GIB). Its numbers were falling and Dr Ali felt the exalted status would accord one of India’s heaviest flying birds the protection it rightfully deserved. But the choice was shot down as some felt its name, just a vowel away from an expletive, would invite affronts to India’s pride. So it . . . Complete story »
Green energy projects threaten the last refuges of the endangered great Indian bustard
As you approach Pokhran, the skyline is taken over by giants. They are wind turbines and lofty steel towers that stand tall against the yellow sand dunes, making the landscape look like a dystopian Lego town. The tops of the towers are painted a menacing red; they stand tall as if holding hands with the power lines. Close to Pokhran, where India once flexed its nuclear muscle, a new power struggle is emerging in the sand dunes of Rajasthan. This . . . Complete story »
If our green energy plans will threaten our biodiversity, they’re not ‘green’
An article recently published in Bloomberg took a vicious swipe at the great Indian bustard, a protected species in India. Through an insensitive diatribe, the article suggested that the bird’s habitat in Rajasthan and its special status are increasing mitigation costs for power companies looking to make a quick buck with solar panels in the Thar. The article passes off the bustard’s habitats as ‘wastelands’ that we would all be foolish to not exploit for solar or wind power. The . . . Complete story »
Four vultures die in Jaisalmer after hitting windmill, wires
JAISALMER: Four vultures died in different incidents in Degrai pasture land in Jaisalmer district on Wednesday. While two Himalayan vultures died after hitting a windmill at Bheeksar, a Himalayan vulture and Egyptian vulture died after hitting high-tension electric wires at Sodhiasar. Last Friday, too, two Egyptian vultures died after hitting high-tension electric wires at Rasla border. Since January, more than 36 migratory and rare birds have died. Around 15 days ago, two cinereous vultures and a Tony eagle had died . . . Complete story »
