I am happy to know that “Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas” is being observed in Andaman & Nicobar Islands on 20th August 2012 on the birth anniversary of our former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi, who was a strong advocate of renewable energy.
The need of the hour is for us to adopt a sustainable path of development for continued economic growth alongside ecological security and social equity. In our Islands, the primary source of electricity generation is diesel; and while it is presently unavoidable, it is our consistent endeavour to reduce the carbon emissions in these pristine Islands and to substitute and eventually convert our entire energy source to “Green fuels”.
I therefore, appeal to all our people to firstly, reduce consumption of energy as much as possible, thereby reducing our carbon footprint, and secondly to progressively use CFLs/LEDs and solar devices instead of incandescent lamps. Lastly and most significantly, we must aspire towards power generation through Solar/Bio-mass/Wind/Geothermal and Ocean tidal, for maximising the Renewable Energy Resources of these Islands for perpetual and fossil fuel-free energy, and to become the first archipelago in the world to do so.
Sd/-
Lt Gen (Retd) Bhopinder Singh
Lieutenant Governor
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
