Bihar parties urged to push for green energy

PATNA - Environmental organisation Greenpeace India and civil society groups have urged political parties in poll-bound Bihar to include development of renewable energy in their manifestos.

“Greenpeace India along with civil society groups urged the political parties to end the energy crisis by committing to a policy change for adoption of decentralized renewable energy in their poll manifesto,” said Ramapati Kumar, a consultant with Greenpeace India.

In day-long deliberations organized by the environmental group here Wednesday to highlight energy needs of Bihar, Kumar said there was tremendous scope for developing decentralized renewable energy in the state.

Kumar told IANS that Greenpeace India and the civil society groups agreed to keep a close eye on the October elections in Bihar and evaluate parties for their commitment towards clean energy and policies towards overall development.

“While a lot of progress has been made in Bihar over the last few years, the lack of energy remains a crucial issue,” he said.

Representatives of several political parties, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president C.P. Thakur, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) general secretary Shayam Razak and veteran Congress leader L.P. Sahi, supported the Greenpeace India initiative.

Kumar said Greenpeace India and civil society groups conveyed the people’s demand for development of renewable energy to all major political parties including JD-U, BJP, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Communist Party of India and Bahujan Samaj Party.

He said Bihar is looking for strong leaders who can bring about structural reforms and revamp the energy policy.

A Greenpeace India study said Bihar is reeling under a power crisis.

Bihar needs an energy revolution now and decentralized renewable energy can fuel that change, he said.