'Energy demand up by 10 times in a decade'

The total water consumption in India has gone up by over four times, while the energy needs are ten times more than what they were a decade ago, said Dr J Srinivasan, Chairman, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science.

Speaking after inaugurating an exhibition ‘Planet Under Pressure,’ organised to commemorate the 154th birth anniversary of Sir M Visvesvaraya, at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum in the city on Tuesday, he said, the population of the world has gone up by seven times over the last 100 years and the demand for natural resources is high now.

“We need more water. So, over 30,000 dams have been built to meet the need. This has altered the natural flow of rivers, leading to several other changes in the system,” he stated. Srinivasan lauded the Central government’s announcement to generate 175GW of power through solar and wind energy. “The new government has said that they will achieve this target in the next seven years. This is a good target to meet,” he said.

The exhibition will continue till October 30. A workshop on ‘Internet of Things’ and a talk on ‘Atomic energy for constructive purpose’, were also organised to mark the occasion.