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the flow

INDIA-INDONESIA PARTNERSHIP:  PICO HYDRO DEVELOPMENT IN MEGHALAYA

1/16/2023

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Meghalaya is one of India’s eight states making up the country's rich bio- and ethnically-diverse northeastern region.  Since 2013 HPNET members have worked to advance community-scale hydro in Meghalaya for last-mile energy access:

  • In 2013, International Rivers and the Nagaland Empowerment of People thru EnergyDevelopment (NEPeD) hosted a micro hydro exchange event focusing on NE India, which connected HPNET to the Meghalaya Basin Development Agency (MBDA).
  • In 2015, HPNET enabled India practitioners to attend HPNET’s Members Gathering held in Indonesia at the Hydropower Competence Center (HYCOM), connecting them to Pt entec Indonesia.
  • In 2016, MBDA and HPNET held a regional exchange in Meghalaya, with VillageRES and PT entec Indonesia as co-facilitators.
  • In mid-2019, International Rivers and partners, including HPNET, hosted a tri-country dialogue in Meghalaya, with CSOs and local practitioners from Nepal, Myanmar, and India.
  • In late 2019, HPNET supported a reconnaissance field visit to understand field-based challenges to pico hydro scale up in NE India.
  • In 2021, HPNET and International Rivers held a three-part virtual exchange focusing on  Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Salween (GBMS) Rivers, providing regional inspiration from across S/SE Asia and customized capacity building.  
  • The 2021 event included a special keynote by Mr. Augustus Suting, Special Officer at MBDA.
In between each of these milestones have been strategy dialogue among members. As such, when MBDA released a tender to accelerate pico hydro for rural electrification, HPNET members already had working relationships and a keen understanding of challenges and key solutions to leverage the opportunity.
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Below Mr. Ramasubramanian Vaidhyanathan (“Rams”), who has long been committed to the sub-region, provides a brief and exciting update on the most recent technical developments brought forth by a partnership between HPNET members VillageRES and Pt entec Indonesia.

To date an estimated 1000 villages remain unelectrified in the northeastern state of Meghalaya in India, out of approximately 6000 villages.  In 2022, MBDA identified about 200+ micro hydro sites for implementation located throughout the state in communities of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo ethnic tribes.  The identified potential for most of the sites was 3 kW.  A few had a much higher potential but for this tender, projects were limited to 5 kW.

VillageRES (Village Renewable Energy Systems India Private limited) participated in the tender in partnership with EMSYS Electronics Private limited, a solar energy company based in Bangalore. The consortium was awarded 45 sites located throughout Meghalaya.   
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VillageRES entered into a manufacturing license agreement with PT entec Indonesia to manufacture their new cross flow turbine design with 150mm diameter runners. The turbine is called CFT 150/21.

The fabrication began in July 2022.  Pt entec Director, Mr. Gerhard Fischer, and the team helped us a lot with fabricating the first few pieces – updating drawings, dimensions, a few design corrections, etc. We fabricated the units in the south Indian industrial hub of Coimbatore, in the state of Tamil Nadu. 
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We are very pleased with the results: the turbines have come out very well made and were cost effective to fabricate. We also tested a few of the turbines at a site in Meghalaya and the performance was fantastic. We will be assessing the performance of this model more thoroughly once all the units are installed.
During the installation process, we found that many of the sites were situated right next to a waterfall and the penstock was installed at nearly a 90 degree angle without any proper support. While it was logical and easier to select sites that had an obvious sufficient head, other aspects, such as the design of the intake structure, penstock route, and penstock support appeared to have been completely overlooked. We realised that the on-site assessment methodology that we utilize in training has to be much more detailed and maybe periodically conducted to continue to build the capacity of the sector’s local personnel. Unless this is carried out, the project sites are prone to failure within a year or two of the installation.

This guest blog post was written by Mr. Ramasubramanian Vaidhyanathan (“Rams”), Director of VillageRES and HPNET Board of Representative Member for India.  
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He can be reached at ​​rams@villageres.com. 
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DOBRIYAL BROTHERS SHARES A SNAPSHOT OF COMMUNITY PRIDE

5/20/2022

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HPNET Member, thirty-five year old Aman Dobriyaal, based in the foothills of the Himalayas in India, taught himself how to manufacture pico hydro Crossflow turbines over a decade ago. Since then Aman has built and helped to install over 700 units for households and communities in remote corners of India, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  

His local enterprise Dobriyal Brothers recently established a turbine manufacturing center, soon to include a pico hydro testing facility.  Aman seeks to advance their work and contribute experiences by engaging with HPNET’s SEEED Accelerator.  

Among the units he supplied this quarter is a 3kW system to electrify an Indigenous community near Rayagada, Chitragrah, supported by the local government.  Aman visited the site for a feasibility assessment and then guided the team remotely to install and test the system.  

He received this video of jubilee, which exemplifies the Indigenous pride that comes with localized approaches to community-scale hydro.

Check out the video!
For more information contact Aman Dobriyaal at dobriyalbrothers1986@gmail.com and at +91 95570 79907 by phone or WhatsApp.
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"HIDDEN NO MORE": LOOKING BACK ON THREE DECADES OF LEADERSHIP WITH URMILA SENAPATI

5/10/2022

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PictureUrmila Senapati. Credit: A. Behara.
In this edition of Hidden No More, we are thrilled to feature Urmila Senapati, a community hydro pioneer in her own right who led community development initiatives in Odisha, India for over three decades.  Under Urmila’s leadership, community energy access projects were first initiated at Gram Vikas, where she worked from 1986 to 2019, tirelessly advocating for community-led transformation.  Read on for a glimpse into Urmila’s inspiring journey, as she reflects on her trials and triumphs over the years. 

You can check out more Hidden No More interviews here.  The series spotlights women small-scale hydro practitioners, to honour trailblazers who have made a difference in the sector and to inspire the current and next generation of women practitioners.


To start with, Urmilaji, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I started with Gram Vikas in 1986, when I was 26 years old.  I worked there for 33 years, until retiring in 2019. I currently live in my native village called Raghunathour, in Jagatsingpur District in Odisha State, India.  While I was working for Gram Vikas, I never thought that I would retire when I reached a certain age; I always thought that I would retire when I felt tired, but there is an enforced age for retirement that I had to follow. After retirement, many of my well-wishers invited me to continue my journey working in the sector, but unfortunately my mother’s health condition, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, prevented me from continuing. That said, I still try to help my colleagues with work matters over the phone sometimes.
When I was working, I hardly had any time to spend with my parents.  Now it is a blessing that at least I have the chance to look after my mother in her old age.  In addition, I’ve recently developed some of our unused land into a small vegetable garden.  I’m applying some of what we taught communities about agriculture and land management and am getting great satisfaction from my garden.  Giving advice to others is a completely different experience than doing it oneself! 
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Urmila and a neighbour tending to their crops. Credit: U. Senapati.
How did you start your career and what inspired you to start working in community development?

I was born and raised in Kharagpur, West Bengal up to grade 7, as my father worked for the railway department.  When my grandfather passed away, my siblings and I (two boys and four girls) moved to our family’s village with my mother.  We went to live with our paternal uncle, but it didn’t work out.  My uncles were very powerful men in the village.  They didn’t allow us to live with them nor did they give us our share of our paternal property.  They harassed us and prevented me from going to school.  I was 11 years old at the time.  They purposefully disconnected our electricity and didn’t even allow us to buy kerosene from the shop to use for lanterns.  Those incidents sparked a rebellious spirit in me.  I realized how rich and powerful people treat the poor. 

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Under such conditions I completed my studies, and at the age of 19, I started my career as a government school teacher, but I did not continue for long.  One of my cousin’s brothers, Badal, was working in the charitable sector and asked me if you I would be interested to work in the sector.  The day I got the chance to work in the nonprofit sector, I immediately joined Gram Vikas as a Field Organiser in a remote tribal village under Kerandimal project, Ganjam District.  During those days a typical work day included 16-17 hours of walking, often from 6:00am to 11:00pm, to engage with community members.  Most of my friends criticized me, saying that I was crazy to leave my government job for this type of work, but I did not care. After that I never looked back.  I grasped the opportunity to work independently and uplift the voices of poor communities to a higher level, to fight against injustice and inequality. This is the way I started my career in the nonprofit sector. Over time I held different positions with increasing responsibility, up to Senior Manager, and did my best to produce positive results in each role.
“I grasped the opportunity to work independently and uplift the voices of poor communities to a higher level, to fight against injustice and inequality."
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Koinpur tribal village in Gajapati district. Credit: U. Senapati.
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Horticulture developed in Bafola tribal village in Kalahandi district. Credit: U. Senapati.
We understand that it was under your leadership that renewable energy initiatives were first initiated at Gram Vikas. What inspired you to start promoting micro hydropower?

I realized early on that water is a precious resource.  In southern and western Odisha, most tribal communities are less developed than those in other parts of Odisha.  They lack basic services and access to clean water, electricity, communications, food security, healthcare, etc.  Most tribal people die from common diseases like diarrhoea, TB, fever and jaundice, most often impacted by waterborne diseases.  Water is important for many reasons.  Can you imagine that, to get a bucket of water, a woman must walk 1 to 2 kms in a mountainous area?  Cooking and eating must be finished before nightfall, otherwise families must eat by the light of a fire (“chula” light).  Some communities have abundant natural resources but cannot benefit from them; all the water goes downstream and is used for large hydroelectric dams and irrigation channels to improve agriculture production for affluent people.  The government always thinks that, unlike the rich, poor people need only poor solutions.

In this context, we noticed that some villages had very good untapped water sources up in the mountains.  It occurred to me that we could use this water to improve livelihoods through electricity access, but at first, I did not know how. I discussed this with my Director who consulted a few technical experts.  One person named Jogesh, from Utarakhanda, visited one of our sites and said the site could produce 15 to 25 KW of electricity. Using their feasibility report we decided to construct a micro hydro project.  Fortunately, at that time we had an Australian volunteer named Michael who had been working with Gram Vikas for two years, under the leadership of then-Program Manager, Liby Johnson [now Executive Director of Gram Vikas].  Michael provided technical support to initiate the first micro hydro project in a tribal village called Amthaguda in Kalahandi District.  When Michael left, Dipti Vaghela [now Network Facilitator and Manager at HPNET] joined Gram Vikas, providing technical support to continue the project and she helped to bring it to completion.  We were able to work within a very restrictive budget, since the community contributed in-kind labour and provided local materials free of cost, and we developed a system for monthly tariff collection.  We also supported one youth from the village to receive training on system operation and maintenance.  This project not only generated electricity, but also helped the community to increase their food production through land irrigation, provided 100% of households with 24/7 access to safe water for toilets, and improved health by mitigating water borne diseases.

The day electricity came to the village, people celebrated by cooking a bhoji for a jatra (as if there was a festival for the whole community).  What the government had not accomplished over 60 years, the community accomplished in two years, with perseverance to overcome various challenges. Upon seeing the success of micro hydro in Amthaguda village, other nearby villages stepped forward to develop community hydro as well.  To date, five hydro mini-grids are running in Kalahandi District.
What kind of challenges have you encountered in your career journey? Have you faced particular challenges as a woman practitioner?

Yes, I have encountered many challenges in both my personal life and working life.  Firstly, as a woman, it is often not easy to be accepted as a leader; often you are only accepted when there is no alternative and only once you have proven yourself.  I first faced this challenge and demonstrated my leadership capacity in Thuamul Rampur project in Kalahandi District.

Thuamul Rampur project was, and remains, one of the key tribal community sites for Gram Vikas.  It was situated in a forest reserve area with no communication services and only one pucca (“paved”) road from Bhawanipatna district headquarters to Thuamulpur block headquarters, thus I had to walk part of the journey.  Due to its extreme remoteness and underdevelopment, in a hilly area with dense forest, those living in the area faced many challenges including malaria, lack of electricity, no running water, and dangerous wildlife encounters.  Moreover, the site was 450 kms from Gram Vikas headquarters.  The project was initiated in 1988.  From ‘88 to ’94, 6 Team Leaders were posted within 6 years.  Most of them were not interested to stay in such poor conditions for extended periods.  Not only Team Leaders, but also staff turnover was very high.  Those who visited the site and didn’t quit immediately often came down with malaria after a few weeks (although this problem has since reduced).  As such, amongst Gram Vikas staff, this project was considered the most difficult.   Often, staff would resign before transferring to Thuamul Rampur having heard of its challenging conditions; and those who were successful in Thuamul Rampur earned great respect.  The area was rich in natural resources like water sources, forests and minerals, and both  a challenging yet inspiring context for outsiders.

In 1995, I was posted as a Team Leader in Thuamul Rampur.  I was shocked to find that 95% of my staff were much more senior than myself and there was only one woman out of 45.  “Who will take me seriously,” I thought.  The staff advised that, being a woman, I should not go to the field and, rather, remain working from the project office.  All the community work would be done by them, and I was only to process bills and pay vouchers.  I was confused and afraid -- how could I lead the project without doing field work and engaging with communities?  I informed them that my primary job required field visits and I acted accordingly.  During field visits I noticed some problems including improper reporting of finances and staff work hours, and lack of discipline among staff when in the villages.  I tried my best to correct these issues, but it was not an easy task for me.  The staff disliked the changes I was trying to instill and created obstacles for me.  The situation worsened to the point that my supervisor became my adversary; but thankfully the Gram Vikas Director was able to understand my intentions and was supportive.
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Village meeting on implementation of micro hydro project in Karlapat village, Kalahandi District. Credit: U Senapati.
How did you overcome these obstacles? What helped you to persevere?

​During that challenging time in Thuamul Rampur I discussed the situation with our Director and thankfully he provided moral and strategic support, even directly in the field.  As a result, I was able to continue and became the only Team Leader who successfully completed 5 years as a Team Leader in Thuamul Rampur.  I’m happy to see that the programs initiated during my leadership continue to be sustained by communities, including: establishing the Residential tribal school named Gramvikas  Shikhsyaniketan in August, 1998; the Livelihood, Water & Sanitation Programme which has benefitted 100% of the households in the village; solar PV systems and biodiesel projects (biodiesel produced from un-utilized local seeds, in collaboration with a Canadian NGO named CTx Green); water pumping from dug wells to supply bathrooms in tribal villages; and, of course, the micro hydro initiatives.

More broadly, I benefited from maximizing the time I spent with community members, getting to know the reality on the ground, and I learned many new things from them.  I always tried to be a friend to community members, not a boss.  Acceptance by community members is one of the most important factors for getting work done.  Sharing knowledge and, in turn, learning from local knowledge is one of the most important tools.  Local peoples’ practical knowledge is more useful than any outsider’s knowledge. For this reason, I succeeded by empowering local people to become leaders who would be the real drivers of successful development programs.
“I succeeded by empowering local people to become leaders who would be the real drivers of successful development programs.”
Would you have recommendations for organizations to better support women team members?

First and foremost, a Team Leader or Executive Director must have confidence in women team members that they can do good work.  An attitudinal change is required. 


I overcame obstacles many thanks to my Assistant Director, Mrs. Anthiya Madiath, who motivated me in so many ways and helped me to build my capacity through training, exposure visits, critical meetings, and mentorship. Thanks to her support I decided to commit myself to the empowerment of tribal and marginalized communities work until the end of my life.  Training, exposure, and inclusion in decision-making are some key ways that organizations can build the capacity of women practitioners.

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Annual general meeting in September 2012 at GV head office, Mohuda in Ganjam District. Credit: Gram Vikas.
From your experience, how does gender relate to water management and community hydro?  And how can we encourage women’s full participation and leadership in these areas?

Women and water are inseparable. We cannot think of gender equity and water management separately.  In the context where I have lived and worked, it is women’s primary responsibility to get water for the household and it is women who do all work related to water, from agriculture to household labour.  If water is mis-utilized the first people who will suffer badly are women.  As a result, we’ve found that women are highly motivated to participate in water management initiatives. 
“Women and water are inseparable. We cannot think of gender equity and water management separately.”
​For example, we conducted a series of village meetings to motivate the community to participate in decision making and contribute labour for the community hydro project.  All community members agreed to the meeting but the next day we didn’t see any men at the worksite.  Only women community members were present and did the work.  When we asked about men, the women said they went to the bazaar or were playing cards in the village.  “They won’t work but we cannot sit idly because we are struggling to get water,” they would say.  “It is our responsibility to fetch water for the home.”  In the end, we noticed only a few men participated.  A similar situation repeated with the collection of funds for micro hydro maintenance.  So, to answer your question, I have not faced any difficulty motivating women to participate and take the lead; in my experience, this happened naturally.
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Tribal women return with firewood from the nearby forest in Maligaon village, Kalahandi district, Odisha. Credit: Gram Vikas / A. Behera.
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Village Electrification Committee meeting for micro hydro activities, Karlapat village in Kalahandi District. Credit: Gram Vikas.
When you look back at your career, what are you most proud of?

At the end of my 33-year career with Gram Vikas, when at times I feel that friends and acquaintances may have forgotten my contributions to the organization, I feel touched that the communities I engaged with haven’t forgotten me.  Whenever I feel down, very often my spirit is lifted when I receive a phone call from a community member saying, “Didi [meaning elder sister in Oriya], please come to visit our village”. 

​I feel proud of the many development initiatives that I initiated, which improved the livelihoods of tribal communities.  I am lucky that I had the opportunity to work with tribal communities in the remote interior through Gram Vikas, in inaccessible areas where development was once just a dream.  Initially, I thought it was impossible to work in such remote areas where you could not manage adequate food and mobility, but thanks to support from colleagues, training, exposure, etc., I could succeed.  
Overall, I am very thankful to Gram Vikas for a highly rewarding career.​

One of my proudest accomplishments came out of one of the most difficult struggles in my career.  In 1992, I was posted as Team Leader in Rudhapader project, in Ganjam district.  During my field visit I noticed that villagers were cultivating a small patch of brinjal in infertile land within the forest reserve; for this, every year, the forest guard and rangers took bribes from them.  I motivated the community to shift to cashew plantations instead of brinjal, which would result in a better return.  They agreed and implemented this successfully with financial support from Gram Vikas.  The next year, the forest rangers asked for bribes, but I encouraged the community not to pay any bribe to anyone.  When they didn’t pay, the rangers became angry.  They illegally arrested people and kept them in the Tarasing Rang police station.  When it came to my notice I rushed to the station and confronted them.  In the end, they released the community members, but 10 forest and criminal cases were filed in my name in 1992.  I had to regularly attend court from then until 2004.  That 12-year experience is one I will never forget, but at the end of my painful struggle I saw a remarkable outcome.

In total 20 families were living in the village.  From 1995/1996 onwards, each family was earning a minimum of 20,000 to 50,000 RP cash in a year from cashew sales (depending on land size).  Today, after a long fight, every family in the village has a land record in their name under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA). Now the village scenario has completely transformed.  Recently a family showed me their new marble house through a video call.  Often, they call and invite me to visit their village.  I feel very proud of what was accomplished in this village.
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Rudhapar area family receiving land records under the Forest Right Acts. Credit: Gram Vikas
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Tribal community members assembled for training on the Forest Rights Act in Koinpur village, Gajapati district, Odisha. Credit: Gram Vikas.

READ MORE: Forest Rights Act: Ensuring rights, access and control over forest rights and resources

Would you like to share any final thoughts for our readers?

Nothing is impossible.  Everything is possible with hard work, willingness and honesty. Your struggle today will give you happiness tomorrow that will last the rest of your life.


Finally, I’ll share a quote that I feel is 100% correct when looking back at my experiences: “Love your job but don’t love your company, because you may not know when your company stops loving you” -- Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India. It reminds me that, as a woman leader, being committed to the upliftment of marginalized communities may mean displeasing some people in the process – but the end result, achieving my mission, is worth being steadfast.

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A quotation and photo of Urmila on display at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, as part of an exhibit on a Women & Water Programme in which Urmila participated in Kyrgyzstan in 2013. Credit: Julia Collins.
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PARTNERSHIPS:  MEGHALAYA AND NAGALAND, INDIA

4/25/2022

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The Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya has launched a pico hydro program, which includes demonstration sites in 11 districtures and the electrification of 300+ communities.

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The Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD), an HPNET member based in the state of Nagaland, also in northeast India, has thus far provided 51 NEPeD pico hydro hydrogers for the initiative.  NEPeD is also providing operation and maintenance capacity building for 102 village-based persons (2 persons from each village).  Each unit will generate up to 3 kW for lighting and small appliances.

Since being established in 2007, NEPeD has been designing and manufacturing pico and micro hydro hydrogers in Dimapur, Nagaland, along with providing all onsite services, including installation, training, and productive end use integration. You can read more about NEPeD’s approach in our member profile here.
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Map of Northeast India showing Meghalaya in brown and Nagaland in blue. Source: www.mapsofindia.com.
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WATCH:  EXCHANGE EVENT VIDEOS

10/18/2021

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As part of the SEEED Accelerator, HPNET launched the SEEED cohort for the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Salween River Basins, in partnership with International Rivers, to advance community-scale hydropower in the region. 

​With support from TROSA and funding from the Government of Sweden and WISIONS, the SEEED cohort engaged in capacity building, multi-actor dialogue and peer-to-peer exchange, including through a two-day virtual exchange event. 

​You can find video recordings, session summaries, presentation slides, and other event resources at this link!
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ADVANCING PICO / MICRO HYDROPOWER IN THE GANGA, MEGHNA, BRAHMAPUTRA, AND SALWEEN RIVER BASINS

9/8/2021

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The river basins of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Salween (GBMS) Rivers are endowed with rich natural resources, exceptional biodiversity, and vibrant indigenous cultures.  Yet social and environmental well-being continue to be undermined by large hydro development, as decision makers seek economic prosperity and economic recovery, in the stark context of a global pandemic. 

However, community-scale hydropower offers an alternative path that provides modern energy services, while strengthening the local social, economic, and ecological resources of this unique region.  The region is fortunate to have experienced local practitioners who have been advancing pico hydropower as a nature-based, community-centric solution for clean and sustainable energy access.
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Pico hydro manufacturing training participant in Meghalaya, India. Credit: Rams Vaidhyanathan
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Htan Hla Pin Community Micro Hydro, Shan State, Myanmar. Credit: Loïs Sevestre
​HPNET has engaged with local practitioners in the region since 2013, in partnership with International Rivers, Nagaland Empowerment of People thru Energy Development (NEPeD), and the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA), and the Meghalaya State Council for Science and Technology for different activities.   We have mapped stakeholders, visited sites, and held dialogues on opportunities, challenges, and regional best practices, based on a 4-step approach to knowledge exchange.   Since 2019 the approach has been refined into a knowledge-to-impact initiative called Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological and Economic Development (SEEED).  SEEED is based on 40-years of experiential hindsight in the global South on what makes community hydro systems sustainable and deliver optimal results.  The SEEED Accelerator was launched this quarter, enabling practitioners to customize proven sustainability mechanisms to local contexts, unlocking their potential to generate climate resilient socio-economic co-benefits.
​A key component of the SEEED Accelerator is to establish peer-to-peer and multi-stakeholder cohorts, targeting different geographic regions.  We’re excited to launch the first SEEED cohort -- focusing on the basin regions of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, and Salween Rivers (GBMS) in partnership with International Rivers, supported by TROSA and the WISIONS initiative at the Wuppertal Institute of Climate, Environment and Energy.  The partnership offers three learning opportunities for field-based practitioners in the GBMS basins -- namely  group capacity building, individual customized coaching, and peer-to-peer exchange.  Read on to learn more!
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Map showing Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Salween river basins: Program basins of Oxfam’s Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA) program. Credit: Oxfam in Asia

Cohort Capacity Building
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The GBMS SEEED cohort kicked off earlier this month with a 3-day virtual capacity building event, offering technical capacity building for small-scale hydro practitioners working directly with communities in the GBMS regions (i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal or Thailand).  The course was conducted by Mr. Ramasubramanian (a.k.a Rams) Vaidhyanathan, focusing on site assessment and the basics of system design for systems < 10 kW.  Days 1 and 3 were conducted online, and Day 2 included optional field assessment work.  The group of 20+ participants are continuing to solidify their understanding of key topics while also learning about each other’s work through group emails facilitated by Rams.  Remaining committed to field-based practitioners, the HPNET Secretariat will continue to facilitate learning exchange among the cohort beyond the HPNET - Intl Rivers partnership period.
Customized Individual Coaching
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All participants who completed the 3-day group training have been invited to receive follow-up, customized capacity building.  This allows helping to resolve each participant’s specific technical issues in their ongoing initiatives and to improve their technical processes to prevent issues.   This type of support is important for both advanced practitioners (e.g. NE India practitioners scaling up their work to hundreds of implementations this year), as well as beginning level practitioners (e.g. civil society organizations in Myanmar who are conducting their very first feasibility studies).  It is also an opportunity for the HPNET Secretariat to continue refining its approach to the SEEED Accelerator, better responding to and strategizing context-specific needs for future cohorts.
​Peer-to-Peer Exchange Event

An exchange event will be held on 21-22 September, 2021.  Building upon exchanges conducted in 2016, 2018, and 2019,  this 2-day virtual event aims to provide opportunities for South-South, peer-to-peer exchange and multi-stakeholder dialogue.  Day 1 will focus on sharing from field-based practitioners from across the Asia Pacific, while Day 2 will focus on multi-stakeholder dialogue on country and state specific challenges and opportunities in the GBMS regions.  See here for details on how to participate!  
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INDIA: GRAM VIKAS' INITIATIVE TO STRENGTHEN SPRINGS

10/7/2020

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PictureWatershed being rehabilitated in Odisha, India. Credit: Gram Vikas.
The power output of micro hydro projects depends on the water flow and the head. The source of the flow is often a spring or a tributary of a river. Both types of sources depend on the watershed, which forms a catchment area for the micro hydro system. The terrain and forests of the watershed form the catchment area of the micro hydro system. 

In this regard, micro hydro is truly a nature-based solution. Healthy forested watersheds result in sustainable micro hydro systems, where the flow is consistent throughout the year and also resilient to climate change. In addition, healthy forests also help to control erosion during monsoon seasons, which can negatively impact both the micro hydro system and the community. Further, vibrant forests lend themselves to enhanced rural livelihoods, which in turn can benefit from access to electricity, e.g. local processing of agri-forest products.

Because of these linkages, we are connecting micro hydro practitioners to watershed experts.  Our network is fortunate to have a few members that focus on both. Gram Vikas, based in Odisha, India, is one such organization.  
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In fact, the focus on watershed restoration goes beyond micro hydropower for Gram Vikas. Its flagship and award-winning water and sanitation program for rural and marginalized communities strongly highlights practices for watershed (ridge to valley) and springshed (valley to valley) strengthening. 

One of the several solutions in this area that Gram Vikas is pioneering is recharging springs. Read on to learn more!  For additional articles on watersheds and micro hydro, please see here.


​SPRINGS:  NATURE'S BOUNTY FOR WATER SECURITY

Sustainability of Springshed-based Water Sources

Mountain Springs are the main water source for most of the tribal population living in the Eastern Ghats range of Odisha. Many of the villages, in the region, are over the hilltops, in the form of scattered hamlets. They get little or no access to streams flowing down to the valleys. About 60% of the population in these hamlets depend upon spring water for basic needs like drinking, domestic use, and for agriculture and livestock.  Despite their significance, springs are drying up due to variations in rainfall patterns, changes in land use and reduction in forest cover. Many have become seasonal with low discharge. There are also apparent changes in the quality of water available. Only about 30% of the water sources are estimated to be functioning without any apparent decrease in water availability. ​
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Barren hills due to felling of trees and slash and burn cultivation. Credit: Gram Vikas
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Gram Vikas team assessing health of springs in Odisha, India. Credit: Gram Vikas
The Springs Initiative

The Springs Initiative aims to develop community-led efforts for springshed management, spring rejuvenation and establishment of water systems by harnessing the potential of perennial springs sustainably. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India and UNDP India support the initiative. Gram Vikas took up the initiative, in partnership with village communities and with technical support from ACWADAM, in selected blocks of Gajapati, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts of Odisha.
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Land treatment facilitated by Gram Vikas to increase springshed re-charge.  Credit: Gram Vikas

​​Spring Water Atlas

The Spring Water Atlas is an online repository of information on springs, spring-sheds and spring-scapes to strengthen springs management for addressing water scarcity issues for tribal communities in India.  The tool is GIS-based, providing maps, spring health, water quality, and discharge, among other properties.  The knowledge tool is hosted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and UNDP India.   It can be access by the public here:  thespringsportal.org.
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GIS-based data available on the Spring Water Atlas: https://thespringsportal.org/

Community Cadre

A community cadre of para-hydrologists, a mobile application and GIS technology converge to make the portal a rich storehouse of information on springs in India. Users can find information on the number of springs mapped and their health including water quality, discharge capacity and other physical, chemical and biological properties. 75 young men and women from 42 villages in 10 gram panchayats, have been trained and deployed as barefoot para-hydrologists, identify and map springs, and undertake measures for their rejuvenation and protection. Using the mWater application in their smartphones, these para-hydrologists collect data on the local hydrogeology and chemical properties of the spring source. This is then fed into the portal, Spring Water Atlas. The para-hydrologists were trained from November 2019 to February 2020.
The Springs Initiative works towards ensuring water security for remote tribal communities by changing the perception of springs from a ‘source’ to a ‘resource’. An integrated solution, the initiative will address the water needs of these communities for drinking, domestic and agriculture purposes. The harnessing of springs as sources of safe and adequate water, the initiative has the potential to improve the health, nutrition and livelihoods of these communities.
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MEMBER PROFILE: NEPED HYDROGERS IN NE INDIA

10/1/2020

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We are glad to have HPNET member Mr. Takum Chang from the Nagaland Empowerment of People Through Energy Development (NEPeD) share about NEPeD’s pico hydro approach.

PictureCredit: http://surveying-mapping-gis.blogspot.com/
Introduction

Nagaland is one of the seven sister states of northeast India.  The region is rich in biodiversity and natural resources.  There are many villages in Nagaland that have access to small rivers and streams.  These rivers have enough hydro power potential to meet the electricity demand of the entire state. 

Since 2007, NEPeD’s mission has been to educate and empower people to help maintain biodiversity and vital ecosystem services, while simultaneously ensuring equitable access to adequate clean energy supply. 

NEPeD manufacturers and installs pico hydro systems called Hydrogers, a term coined by NEPeD, joining the words hydro and generator.  It refers to the type of pico hydro system developed by NEPeD. 

Clean and green energy through NEPeD’s efforts, however small, could contribute to the mitigation of global climate change concerns in the Eastern Himalayan region as it de-couples the dependence on traditional fossil fuels.

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Remote village in the Sanglekong mountain range, in Tuensang District of Nagaland. Credit: NEPeD
Picture“Made-in-Nagaland” Hydroger for pico hydro developed by NEPeD. Credit: NEPeD
Local Technology Development

The most interesting aspect about Hydroger Systems is that they are not imported from elsewhere but are indigenously manufactured in Nagaland itself.  NEPeD established the Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy Studies (CERES) to manufacture hydro technology locally, making it available easily in the region.  NEPeD, in collaboration with the Nagaland Tool Room and Training Centre (NTTC), Dimapur, ventured into the indigenization of the Hydroger system.  The first funding towards mass production of Hydroger was supported by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under Rural Innovation Fund (RIF). 
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The Hydroger model manufactured in CERES has been successfully tested and certified at the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee.  CERES is the only known centre to solely focus on mass production of Hydroger technology.   CERES is also the hub of knowledge dissemination.  Many trainings were provided to small hydro engineers, technicians and practitioners in the region.  NEPeD is also supporting a private entrepreneur under its entrepreneurship development programme for research and development of the Electronic Load Controller (ELC).

Local Capacity Building

To maintain the Hydroger Project’s sustainability and continuity of efforts in the long run, it is key to have a cadre of skilled rural engineers on-site.  NEPeD has trained more than 50 engineers to oversee and manage the sites’ operation.  NEPeD has also prepared them to help up-scale the Hydroger installation in the future. They will provide hands-on support, ranging from site selection, maintenance, to installation of higher capacity modules. Employing rural engineers and technicians will not only help to generate income but also to grow the rural economy.
Community members installing the penstock. Credit: NEPeD
Community members working on the distribution line. Credit: NEPeD
PictureCommunity training on pico hydro and watershed management. Credit: NEPeD
Socio-Environmental Governance

There are many dimensions to the Hydroger Project.  Not only does it help to address basic electricity needs of people living in the villages, but it also has impacts on the environment, social and economic sectors.  Most of the NEPeD’s Hydroger installations are owned and managed by the communities.  Communities with Hydroger systems undergo capacity building and conservation of environmental ideas is deeply ingrained as part of this training. Each project site is also capacitated and facilitated to evolve their own revenue model.

Hydroger being a clean and alternative source of renewable energy has made an impact through energy delivery.  NEPeD while introducing and promoting this technology, has also encouraged the villagers to maintain the upland catchment areas to ensure a sustainable supply of water. 
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Targeted Impact

Setting up of Hydroger projects have been done following a model that is holistic and integrated.  It is designed to be easily replicated.  The common sectoral impacts as registered by the existing Hydroger Project sites are as listed below. 

Social
- Community ownership
- Revitalized social dynamics-greater community bonding and interaction
- Health sanitation related impacts
- Empowerment and involvement of women in the decision-making process

Economic
- Source of revenue generation for the community
- Employment of individuals
- Increased man hours industries such as handicrafts

Environment
- Generation of clean sustainable energy
- Decreased dependence on fossil fuels
- Spreading/ creating awareness on environmental fronts
- Community commitments to conserve and protect catchment areas and biodiversity
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Replication across NE India

The benefits have also been appraised by the neighbouring States that want to replicate this model.  The low cost, light weight, accessible operation and versatile utility of the Hydroger systems have allowed widespread adoption.  Besides Nagaland, the Hydroger is used in Meghalaya, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir.   NEPeD has has installed over 50 units across northeast India, mostly in Nagaland.  Another 50+ units will be installed in partnership with the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, where NEPeD will also train technicians in each village to install, manage, and troubleshoot.  There has also been an interest to develop Hydrogers commercially.
Next Phase Vision

The Hydroger Project has successfully evolved into a model for a sustainable and community-owned electricity generation in rural areas.  It is improving their quality of life, improving their livelihoods, creating unprecedented awareness, community participation, and most importantly developing governance at a decentralized level. 

The initiative is based on the realization that the availability of energy is vital for sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts.  Energy affects various aspects of development - social, economic, and environmental - including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related issues.  NEPED also seeks to further develop state level capacity to manage the environment and natural resources; integrate environmental and energy dimensions into poverty reduction strategies and state level development frameworks; and strengthen the role of communities and of women in promoting sustainable development.

At the same time, NEPED understands that sustainable energy security initiatives have multiple dimensions.  By focusing on micro/mini hydropower as a reliable renewable source for providing energy security in a difficult terrain where grid connectivity is available erratically, NEPED also intends to create replicable models for watersheds in Nagaland, other North-eastern states, and the Himalayan sub-region.
PictureHydro resource in eastern Nagaland. Credit: NEPeD
Recommendations

1.  Transition from pico to micro hydro
Over the years, the energy demand of rural communities has increased.  They require reliable, uninterrupted, and sufficient energy supply.  They require higher capacity than the current 3kW Hydrogers produce.  Although some villages have access to the central grid, electricity from the Hydroger is more cost effective then the central grid.  Therefore communities have been demanding Hydrogers of higher capacity.  Farmers have expressed the need for energy to add value to their agricultural processing.  NEPeD will strive to leverage the resources for installing higher capacity hydro power systems and hopes to achieve its objective to integrate the environmental and energy dimensions into rural economic development strategies.  NEPeD’s aim to transition from pico to micro hydro systems is a natural progression given the large energy demand-supply gap in Nagaland.
  

2.  Access to subsidy and credit
For NEPeD and also for many other small hydro practitioners in North East India, the only source of funding is the Ministry under Government of India (GOI).  However, most of the funding from the Ministry must go through its state-level nodal agencies.  It is not easy for other departments or practitioners to access funding from the Ministry.  To address this challenge, special consideration or arrangement of funding processes for other departments and practitioners will accelerate prospects of small hydro systems.  Private practitioners and implementers have to be encouraged, especially in Nagaland, to pick up the pace for development of small hydro in the state.  Credit facilities from banks and other financial institutions could be another option for the communities to get resources for setting up small hydro systems of capacity as per their total energy requirement and also meeting the energy requirement for productive use.

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EXCHANGE VISIT TO advance micro hydro in NORTHEAST INDIA

12/17/2019

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PictureRams in route to NEPeD site. Credit: NEPeD
Nagaland is one of the "seven sisters of India," the seven northeastern states of India, endowed with a multitude of indigenous communities, rich biodiversity and extensive hilly forests.

Earlier this month in Nagaland with support from WISIONS, HPNET organized a knowledge exchange visit for Ramasubramanian Vaidhyanathan, the Board of Representative Member for India also known as "Rams", to share his micro hydro expertise with practitioners at Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD).

NEPeD has a well established approach and direction to do sustainable micro hydro projects. Moreover, due to NEPeD's work doing in-house manufacturing at their CERES facility, it is well positioned to support local practitioners and advance the sector throughout Northeast India. This visit aimed to support NEPeD in building on its considerable achievements

Through decades of work on micro hydropower initiatives in Eastern Ghats of India and elsewhere globally, Rams has earned the title of "micro hydro guru" within the network. He supports training, design and manufacturing of Pelton, crossflow, and pump-as-turbines, along with system-wide implementation aspects.

​The exchange visit endeavoured to synergize NEPeD's committed efforts to Rams' several decades of expertise, in order to advance sustainable micro hydro sector in northeast India. More specifically, the purpose of the visit was to:
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  • Assess casting facilities and raw material availability;
  • Assess the fabrication workshop and team at Centre for Excellence for Renewable Energy Studies (CERES);
  • Assess what other turbines could be fabricated with the present infrastructure
  • Visit one or two sites to assess the implementation issues, ownership model, revenue generation, etc.

Rams gave a positive assessment of the casting facilities and availability of raw material. He has reported back that the CERES has a well equipped fabrication workshop with CNC operated lathe and milling machines, an arc welding machine, angle grinder and cutting machine. Casting fabrication is outsourced to the neighbouring institution, the Nagaland Tool and Training Centre. The aluminum castings for the runner buckets and the PMG cores are sourced from Guwahati foundries.

As for his assessment of the CERES fabrication workshop and team, Rams shared that the workshop is well positioned to fabricate turbines of up to 50 kW, and that the team is highly motivated and experienced in the installation of turbines. Moreover, in addition to the fabrication centre, there is a test rig available to test turbines, ram pumps and electric load controllers (ELCs). 

Rams found that with the existing infrastructure, Pelton turbines and cross-flow turbines can easily be fabricated at CERES up to a capacity of 50 kW. He advised that larger units can be taken up once the team gets hands-on experience on the 50 kW scale.

In addition, communities supported by NEPeD do horticulture that can have significantly greater local economic benefits with electricity-based processing.  Enabling this requires the NEPeD pico hydro systems to be upgraded to micro hydro capacities that can generate enough electricity for horticulture livelihoods. HPNET's facilitation of multi-stakeholders to move forward in this direction is a part of our initiative Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological and Economic Development (SEEED).

Based on the outcomes of the visit, we foresee NEPeD upscaling its capacities as well as playing an important role as a regional practitioner advancing the micro hydro sector in northeast India.

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Rams at NEPeD hydroger site. Credit: NEPeD
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REGIONAL EXCHANGE TO ADVANCE COMMUNITY-SCALE HYDRO IN INDIA, MYANMAR, AND NEPAL

6/30/2019

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Our country-specific strategic advocacy efforts were merged into regional momentum this month, thanks to International Rivers and its partners taking the lead in organizing a multi-actor regional exchange, Advancing Community-scale Hydro:  Bridging India, Myanmar, and Nepal. The event, held in Shillong, India, focused on policy, enterprise, and institutional challenges, opportunities, and best practices.  HPNET Board members from the three countries were critical in the participant selection, agenda design, and presentation content. 

The event resulted in increased awareness among front-line civil society organizations and development partners in India,  Myanmar, and Nepal; utility actors from India and Nepal; and government officials from India, Myanmar, and Nepal.  The awareness has resulted in stronger momentum at the country level for multi-actors to work closer together in bringing practice-to-policy changes that have tangible benefits for marginalized rural communities.

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Participants of the regional exchange, Advancing Community Scale Hydro: Bridging India, Myanmar and Nepal. Credit: International Rivers.
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Regional nightlight map. Source: https://achimkemmerling.files.wordpress.com
The event was informed by the video below, developed by the local association Hydropower for Community Empowerment in Myanmar (HyCEM), with support from the Global Greengrants Fund, International Rivers, Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEENet), Green Rights Organization, and HPNET.
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