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Sagar Island, where the Ganga pours into the Bay of Bengal, has long been a symbol of both faith and weakness. The Gangasagar Mela brings hundreds of thousands of people here every January. But there is a quieter, more complicated story behind the news and the religious crowds.
Sagar Island is a crucial test case for India. The island is risk-prone due to rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion, and regular storms. It is also a testing ground for India’s plans to decentralize its energy supply. What was found on the island will have an effect on a lot of people, especially those who live near the coast.
A climate-affected island living in cycles of disruption.
After that, cyclones like Aila (2009), Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020), Yaas (2021), and Remal (2024) have changed the lives of people who live on that island a lot. Sagar Island is a paradoxical case for India right now. It is “electrified” in theory, but the power supply is unreliable, inconsistent, and often cut off. Power went out for over 20 days on the island during Cyclone Amphan.
Energy is more than just a luxury for people who live there and depend on fishing, small businesses, cold chains, irrigation pumps, and cell phone service. It’s the difference between life and death. Frequent outages affect schooling, telemedicine, and vaccine storage, causing anxiety for students and healthcare personnel.
Energy security is not about installing more wires; it is about making the grid climate resilient.
Diesel Dependency and the Cost of Resilience
Many households and businesses rely on diesel as a backup. This costs a lot of money, harms the environment, and is very unfair. Diesel often takes longer to get to places after hurricanes, and its price goes up when things are tough. These changes affect the daily income of people who own boats, run small businesses, and even sell seafood. The presence of grid power has not resulted in actual energy security. Electrification, in its current form, has been a checklist success rather than a resilience promise.
Where Decentralized Energy Could Help, but Implementation Lags
Sagar Island is a great place for decentralized solar power because it gets a lot of sun, is very likely to lose power, and has people living all over the place. Most of the pilot solar mini-grids and rooftop installations are paid for by non-governmental organizations or private donors. They have helped in certain areas, like powering schools, health clinics, and community centers.
The centralized-grid idea is still the most important factor in Sagar’s decision-making. Solar is still “experimental,” not a key part of the infrastructure.
Disaster-prone areas require tiered energy planning. But organizations on the island don’t always work together well. For example, the district administration, state energy utility, panchayat institutions, disaster response forces, and renewable energy agencies often work in separate areas. India’s disaster management has come a long way, from early warning systems to places to stay safe. Energy governance is the next big thing. It means treating power as a first-responder system instead of an afterthought.
The Social Layer: Women, Migration, and the Energy Burden
Gender and socioeconomic factors affect the differences in energy use on Sagar Island. Women have to do more work when the power goes out. It’s harder to cook, get water, take care of other people, and run the house. Because of how migrant men work, women often have to be strong on their own.
Small businesses like grocery stores, tailoring shops, and fish-drying houses require a lot of power. Financially constrained people are the one’s who are affected the most by outages. This makes it harder for them to diversify the economy.
National Relevance: Why Sagar is Important for India’s Climate Future.
Sagar Island isn’t an exception; it’s a preview. Similar pressures will be felt along India’s coastline, which spans about 6,500 kilometers. The World Bank predicts that 36 million Indians will experience coastal climate stress by 2050. Electrification without resilience will not adequately prepare these areas.
Sagar Island contains a lighthouse that guides ships safely through the Bay of Bengal. India now requires a figurative beacon for coastal energy administration. The island’s problems are not failures; rather, they serve as warnings and lessons.
India’s energy revolution will be measured not only in gigawatts deployed, but also in the security it provides to those living on the edge of climatic risk. Electrification was the first phase. The second phase must include resilient, egalitarian, and locally governed electrification.
Sagar Island demonstrates that the future of coastal India will depend not only on electrical assets, but also on power systems that can withstand a storm—literally.
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About the author:
Anusreeta Dutta is a columnist and climate researcher with prior experience as a political researcher and ESG analyst.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.