{"id":390,"date":"2015-07-20T17:12:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/india\/uncategorized\/390\/dharnai-story-of-one-solar-village\/"},"modified":"2022-05-16T02:19:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T02:19:34","slug":"dharnai-story-of-one-solar-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/story\/390\/dharnai-story-of-one-solar-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Dharnai: story of one solar village"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s been precisely one year now, since 2000 citizens of Dharnai, a small village near Bodhgaya in the eastern Indian state of Bihar achieved access to electricity<\/a> for the first time in 30 years. To most us who are living in this digital era, even an hour of power outage can ruin the entire day. So to imagine an entire generation that had not seen the glow of a light bulb is mind boggling.<\/p>\n
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22 April 2015<\/span>
\nChildren sitting under a solar panel in Dharnai, Bihar \u00a9 Vivek M<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Our work on solutions campaigns in India spans a decade; from \u201cChoose Positive Energy\u201d in Orissa in 2005, to \u201cSwitch on the Sun\u201d<\/a> in Delhi today. We started our work in Bihar in 2010 with the Urja Kranti Yatra<\/a>, urging political parties in Bihar to look towards Decentralized Renewable energy<\/a> solutions, in order to empower people in the state with energy access at par with the rest of the country.
\nLast year,on 20th July 2014, when Dharnai came live<\/a>, it was the first milestone towards a great vision of autonomous energy access for the state and the country. I was present at the launch of the micro-grid, and it was a moment when people\u2019s lives changed from darkness to light. In such rural areas the lack of access to modern energy services further turns into the absence of basic facilities, like sanitation and health care into pressing problems.There are well-documented studies of women who walk miles to collect water or fuel, or have to relieve themselves outdoors without toilets, where trying to access to basic facilities turn into harassment or worse.<\/p>\n

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23 September 2014<\/span>
\nSolar Powered Street Light in Dharnai Village in India \u00a9 subrata biswas \/ Greenpeace<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In contrast, the lives of women in Dharnai changed drastically with the advent of the micro-grid. Not only did access to energy act as a catalyst that drives other socio-economic improvements, but lighting up a village like Dharnai created opportunities for women and girls by increasing access to both public and personal spaces after dark. Children studied late into the night, and women no longer needed to finish preparing meals before the sun set.
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