India's green energy plans clash with farmers' fears about water

Protests in rural India over ethanol expansion

Farmers worry about water loss and land conversion

The lack of consultation is fueling distrust in biofuel projects

Bhasker Tripathi

India, which imports 80 percent of its oil and natural gas, has made ethanol a central part of its clean energy plans.

Delhi increased the percentage of ethanol in petrol last year from 1% to 20%. Most ethanol is made from sugarcane and maize, which require a lot of water and land. This has caused some resistance in rural areas.

A small town in Rajasthan's northwestern state, Tibbi, is a good example. Hundreds of farmers protested against an ethanol plant proposal late last month.

This factory will steal our water. "No one asked us prior to starting the work", said Madan Dugesar a farmer who was involved in a number of protests against this plant.

Unrest had been growing for months. Residents reported that police arrested protest leaders during dawn raids and cleared a demo near the plant in November. This backfired, and brought more people onto the streets.

The villagers of Tibbi said that they were only aware of the construction of a large ethanol facility when heavy machinery and deep drilling started last year.

Some farmers visited the neighboring state of Punjab in order to learn more about the effects of a similar plant and how protests led to the closure of an ethanol distillery.

"Underground water got polluted. "People started getting sick and then protests started," said Roman Brar a farmer in Zira. Zira was the focal point of the Punjab protests.

Residents of the area staged sit-ins and blocked roads, appealing to the National Green Tribunal (India's highest environmental protection body), which is currently examining the case.

Brar stated, "We're not against the industry." "We are against industries which pollute our land and water," Brar said.

PROTEST GROWS

In Tibbi villagers are opposed to what they call a water-intensive irrigation project in a area that relies on groundwater and canals.

Mahangu Singh Sidhu, a Tibbi resident, said that the water table was rapidly declining and an ethanol facility would further deplete it. It would compete with crops for water supplies and pollute them.

Residents petitioned the local government in April of last year but received no response. By August, a permanent protest was held at the site.

In December, thousands marched to the plant. Residents reported that police used batons to disperse the crowds when they reached the plant. Later, construction was halted.

Official documents state that a district official recommended to the state government to stop work due to public opinion.

Requests for comments were not answered by the district administration or the Environment Ministry.

As ethanol production expands into water-stressed areas, similar protests have been seen in other states including Telangana. Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

Local resistance meets policy push

The Tibbi villagers said that their exclusion from the decision-making process over the plant is one of the main issues which angered communities.

India's amendments to its environmental regulations in 2021 allow grain-based ethanol producers to avoid detailed impact assessments and hearings if they provide ethanol to meet national blending targets. And meet Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) norms.

ZLD is an innovative water treatment system that recycles and reuses wastewater. This ensures that no acidic liquid waste or heavy metals leave the facility.

Activists and villagers, however, claim that such safeguards cannot always be trusted.

Brar claimed that untreated waste in Zira was diverted underground. Local media reported that authorities later discovered evidence of illegal disposal, including the pumping of effluents in?underground waters.

According to a study by the Bangalore-based Center for Study Science, Technology, and Policy, India will need to add 4 to 8 million additional hectares to its maize crop to sustain its ethanol blend. It is approximately seven times as large as New York City.

Researchers believe this could increase competition between food and fuel crops, and put pressure on water resources.

Narasimha Reddy is an expert in environmental policy based in Telangana. He said that the protests reflect deeper concerns.

He said that "Villagers do not oppose development that is negotiated; they oppose being omitted from decisions that reshape the lives of their people."

He said that communities were afraid of losing fertile land and water. "Under the protests is a greater fear that the nation's ability to produce food will be quietly sacrificed in the rush for fuel."

BALANCE CLIMATE AND THE COMMUNITY

The government claims that its ethanol policy saved 12 billion rupees in crude oil imports, and prevented 54.4 millions tonnes of carbon emission over the decade to 2025.

Analysts say that India has diverted record amounts of rice, maize, sugarcane and other grains to fuel production, which reduces the amount of grain available for humans and livestock, as well as reducing land used for food crops.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture funded in 2022 and a review published by the Royal Society in 2020, farming and processing these plants to make ethanol could generate more emissions than gasoline.

The dispute in Tibbi, which has a direct bearing on India's biofuel program, highlights the dangers of pushing large projects forward without local support.

(source: Reuters)