South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE)

Finalist 2016

The deltaic islands of Sundarban World Heritage site in India and Bangladesh are inhabited by six million people, 87% of whom slouch below the poverty line, and are faced with combating climate disasters regularly. These captive islands are ostracized from the energy grid and lack basic amenities for survival.

The South Asian Forum for Environment (SAFE) is proposing an intervention by placing floating captive solar energy plants of 10KVA on inundated lands and rivulets for charging up electrical motor vans and boats to provide a sustainable and safe transportation alternative for inter-island transit.

SAFE has identified a win-win situation for retrieving solar power potential and using it for a sustainable energy transportation network in the captive islands of Sundarbans without impinging upon left over arable land in deltaic villages. This will assure livelihood securities of marginal fishers and farmers by augmenting smooth and safe transportation and boosting the local economy.