Solar Wind Hybrid - embracing renewables for rural energy solution

Pragya has set up its third ‎Solar ‎Wind Hybrid System (‎SWHS) in Shyaso village, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, as part of its efforts to enhance energy access in the Indian ‎Himalayas to improve quality of life in rural households. (View Photographs from the installation process) 

The jubilant Shyaso villagers inaugurated the facility in presence of the Block Development Officer. The combination of solar and wind ‎energy would ensure continual generation of power in this high altitude village - day-and-night, summer-or-winter.

The SWHS technology is ideal for stand alone systems for remote rural settlements. This innovation had won The Energy Globe Award (2005) for the pilot in the neighbouring district of Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

View an update on IUCN quarterly newsletter. 

E-book published - DMS-HIMALAYA

In June 2013, high-intensity rain and cloudbursts in the Indian State of Uttarakhand in the Himalayas triggered a series of hydrologic and geologic disasters, including glacial lake outbursts, landslides and flash floods, affecting more than 2,036,000 people and leading to one of the worst catastrophes of the decade. 

One year on, as the country still grapples with the calamitous event and its aftermath, in DMS-Himalaya, Banerji, Ipe and Basu through first-hand observations, vividly recapture the cascading combination disaster that occurred and the event trajectory. The book also examines the response process to the disaster, what worked and what did not. The learnings, from pre-event stages to post-event response, are drawn out with consideration of the complex interlinked issues related to disaster response in remote locations with fragile ecologies, and have been woven into a fortified disaster management system for the Himalayas.

View the book