Green energy is more than a buzzword for a world faced with climate catastrophes. In Pakistan, the use of solar energy has increased multifold over the past few years. However, we are less motivated by greener causes and more by high electricity costs coupled with long hours of power outages. The overall electricity crisis owes much to people unwilling to pay their bills, a problem more common in far-flung areas, especially in Balochistan province. To address this, the Prime Minister has come up with an innovative solution to mitigate the losses incurred by non-payment of electricity bills by farmers owning tubewells in Balochistan.

28,000 tube wells in the province will be run on solar power. This transition, expected to be completed in three months, draws attention to the unpronounced civil disobedience that has become a norm. The stubbornness to not pay bills adds to the federal government’s fiscal burdens. Additionally, the social contract between the people and the government erodes day by day. Realizing the unwillingness to cooperate, the solar-run tubewell plan is a commendable initiative by the government. First, it will ensure that tubewells run throughout the day, protecting crops.

Secondly, the government’s burden will be eased as the tube wells will be disconnected from the electric grid. Thirdly, it is a step towards cleaner, greener, and renewable energy, carrying no harm to the environment. That said, there is hardly any substitute for the government providing for its citizens and the latter reciprocating by paying taxes and bills. Hard situations definitely call for innovative and out-of-the-box solutions, and solar-powered tubewells are just that.

In the long run, this transition aims to bring uninterrupted agriculture and self-sustained models as the world, at large, heads in the same direction.