Coastal villages in Bangladesh are Brightened by the Solar Energy

Sundarbans coastal people of Bangladesh are living in the dark. Villages are enveloped in darkness after the sunset. Women use kerosene lamps or have to cook food in daylight only. Students have to skip their study hours at night. Most of the people in this area live below the poverty line. Their life and livelihood fully depend on the Sundarbans resources, where they collect fish, crabs, shrimp fry, honey, golpata (nypa frutican), and other resources.

The solution is to build an Eco-village to help protect the single largest mangrove forest in the world. The Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) have established a stable Eco-village as a model for sustainable development to improve sustainable management and operational capacity for Eco-villagers. This includes electrifying local communities deprived of electricity, distributing fuel-efficient stoves to reduce the use of wood fuel from mangroves, and promoting local technology to solve the drinking water scarcity in the Sundarbans community.

Electrified local communities deprived of electricity and distributed fuel-efficient stoves to reduce wood fuel use from mangroves. Promoted local technology to address drinking water scarcity. Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) received the National ENERGY GLOBE Award 2018 for the Eco Village Project.