Over 1 million people live in The Chittagong Hill Tracts. Among them, many are deprived of basic rights and even the bare minimum of modern facilities. Both unity and fragmentation among the people, large seasonal variations, and various geophysical occurrences are frequent in this area. Conducting development activities is difficult in this region because of its existing political issues, the distinguishing lifestyle of its indigenous people, and the hard-to-reach nature of the hilly area. But, a comprehensive approach is prerequisite for the hill tracts in improving the lives and livelihoods of its people and bring balance to the pace of development throughout the country.
There is some socio-economic rationale for the CHT’s lagging behind in terms of advancement compared to other areas in Bangladesh. One of these reasons is the absence of energy, particularly the deficiency of electricity in most parts of this region. But development, especially sustainable development, is not possible when you have such an enormous area deprived of energy. So, a very good understanding is indispensable, while measures need to be taken in overcoming the energy crisis for domestic and commercial purposes to improve the people’s life and livelihoods.
As the CHT has vast natural resources, especially water resources such its rivers, canals, lakes, and small streams, they can be successfully used to generate hydro-electricity to fulfill the demand of the people. The hydro-electricity can contribute into domestic purposes, bettering livelihoods, and improving agriculture for the state of the region’s under-privileged populace. The suitable hilly water-sources can also be alternately used for the production of renewable energy, as these days the emphasis is on producing renewable energy on the part of development practitioners. The Roman, Indian, and Chinese civilisations were enriched by using extra canal water for producing energy -- the symbol of renewable energy. In today’s world, countries like Kenya, Nepal, Vietnam, Tanzania, and other developing and underdeveloped countries are the biggest beneficiaries of adopting renewable energy through the proper utilisation of water.
It will be very supportive of the government and other service-providing organisations to ensure civil facilities and jog development activities in the CHT; that is, if the local populace can produce hydro-electricity and ensure its proper utilisation. The electricity can be supplied to the deprived people of the CHT for domestic purposes. Alongside the establishment of small industries, irrigation and food preservation opportunities can be created. Subsequently, positive changes towards development will be seen at the domestic and commercial levels in this area.
If energy is provided to areas in the CHT, access to modern information technology-enabled facilities will be made easier to its denizens. Through this, the local farmers can be linked with service-providing organisations and can get introduced to modern agriculture technologies, receive proper training, and learn about efficient production. Micro-irrigation can also contribute into extra crop production throughout the year. By using this energy, chilling centres, as well as cold storages, can also be set up in order to protect crops from getting destroyed.
The produced electricity can also be used in the education and health sectors, enabling local clinics to preserve various types of vaccines and medicine. The CHT has vast promise in being a part of our tourism sector, which can bring in a sizable revenue to the country but has not been made possible yet because of its lack of sufficient energy. In this regard, energy supply is the demand of the time for further expanding CHT as a viable part of our tourism sector.
Therefore, now it is the time to produce renewable energy in the CHT and for the government and the private sector need to work together towards achieving it. Alongside a lot of research, bottom-up consultation with various people, organisations, and stakeholders, comparative analysis, and demand formation by the local people are obligatory.
Though there is no negative impact of renewable energy on the environment and the ecology, risk assessment must be conducted and management capacity has to be improved before initiating any type of energy production-related activities in the CHT, in order to avoid any possible disasters and financial losses. Finally, the measurement should be undertaken conferring considerations to the local tradition, culture, heritage, and the inherited livelihoods of the diverse ethnic groups living there.