India To Be Most Impacted By Climate Change, Warns IIT Professor

An Indian Institute of Technology Bombay professor who is touring the country on a solar-powered bus since late 2020 to create awareness among people about solar energy and the threat of climate change has said that India would be among the top countries to be impacted by the latter.

Professor Chetan Singh Solanki, often called the ‘Solar Man of India’, arrived in Indore in Madhya Pradesh as part of his ‘Energy Swaraj Yatra’.

“India is among the countries that are going to be most impacted by climate change. We are seeing that climate change is causing unseasonal rains and severe floods,” Mr Solanki told PTI on Thursday.

To spread awareness about the threat of climate change, Mr Solanki said he took leave without pay from IIT Bombay to set out on the ‘Energy Swaraj Yatra’ in November 2020, adding that the drive will continue till 2030.

“I have resolved not to go home till the yatra is over. This solar-powered bus is now my home. It has covered more than 47,000 kilometres and I have addressed programmes in more than 600 institutions,” he said.

In the bus, he has built an office, kitchen, worship room, bed, training room, dining room, library and a bath-cum-toilet, Mr Solanki said.

“The root cause of climate change is ever-increasing carbon emissions. Solar energy can be the solution to the problem of climate change, but it is very important that solar energy is used properly,” he said.

“It is not right to install large solar power plants indiscriminately in the country. We should make people self-sufficient in solar power generation at the local level. Only then will we get swaraj in the energy sector and not have to depend on other countries for fuels,” said Mr Solanki, who is also the solar energy ambassador of the Madhya Pradesh government.