The Assam Cabinet on Wednesday approved, among other things, policies for concert tourism and solar power generation.
On the face of it, adding another segment of tourism – along the lines of what has now become an established tourism brand in Meghalaya – is welcome. But before joining the bandwagon just for the sake of it, we need to do a reality check on whether this would suit the tourism market in Assam.
The culture in Meghalaya, especially Shillong, has a strong and time-tested Western influence and it is essentially a vibrant blend of tradition and Western mores – all shaped by its history and location. Indeed, Shillong has always been associated with its love for Western music, in addition to traditional music and dance forms.
Assam does not seem to have such a cultural ethos and spending government revenue in boosting this so-far-nonexistent brand of tourism might not yield the desired results except fattening up the coffers of a few tourism and festival companies. It also needs to be asked what the government is doing to promote the State’s potential tourism segments such as eco-tourism, adventure tourism, culture tourism and village tourism.
While we keep boasting of one Kaziranga as yielding record footfall, most other wildlife reserves with immense potential continue to struggle to get visitors. Adventure tourism, which is replete with potential, is almost unheard of in the State. It is these areas inherent with advantages that warrant more focus from the authorities.
Of particular significance is the Cabinet decision okaying the Assam Solar Power Generation Promotion Policy 2025, which aims to generate 3,500 MW capacity by 2030. It seeks to attract both public and private investments to create 15,000 jobs.
Given the perennial power deficit in the State and the fact that demand for power is going to rise rapidly in the years ahead, it is time we put emphasis on harnessing energy from non-conventional and renewable sources, especially solar. Power generated from unconventional sources such as solar, wind, biomass, etc., is not just renewable but also leaves very little adverse impact on the environment. The pathetic power scenario of Assam makes a strong case for tapping renewable energy sources, especially solar energy, which has high potential here.
According to scientific assessments, the State has a solar energy potential of 4.4 KWh to 5.6 KWh per metre per day. With the Centre providing huge subsidies to the States for the past two decades, the Assam government should exhibit some proactiveness to take advantage of this policy and help ease its perennial power crisis. As per Central policy, NGOs, private setups, hotels, nursing homes, educational institutions, etc., will also get liberal subsidies for tapping solar power. Large-scale generation of solar power can reduce the dependence on conventional grids to a great extent.