Green Energy Boom Displaces Desert Herders in India

26 Aug 2024 , 12:39 PM

The world’s most populated country receives vital green energy from whirring wind turbines in the Thar desert of India, but those who live in their shadows claim it comes at their expense.

This highlights the difficult balancing act India, the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, must perform as it races to increase its non-fossil fuel capacity in order to mitigate the growing effects of climate change.

The massive turbines have upended a long-standing farming system, according to 65-year-old sheep herder Nena Ram. “The big companies have come here and built the windmills, but they’re useless to us,” she said.

Heatwaves, floods, and droughts are wreaking increasing havoc across the nation; climate scientists claim that these natural disasters are made worse by rising global temperatures.

However, residents of regions where renewable energy is produced claim that their needs have been neglected in favor of the larger good.

This includes the destruction of holy woods known as “orans” and the loss of grazing areas in the western Rajasthan state, which contains the majority of the Thar desert.

The community has been guarding the desert oases for decades, collecting water that is essential to their livestock economy, which is centered upon camels, cattle, and goats.

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