Solar energy is one of the cleanest and least popular forms of power in West Bengal. This remark itself sums up the state government’s attitude towards alternative forms of energy. While rural and suburban regions of West Bengal have seen a gradual spread of solar panels, urban areas continue to depend heavily on coal-generated electricity. Yet, with coal being depleted at an alarming rate, a time will soon come when solar energy will become a necessary means of power supply. The sooner the government takes the initiative to encourage more people to convert to solar power and make it a commercially viable source of energy, the better it will be for the future of the state and its inhabitants.

However, for good intentions to succeed, they must be accompanied by good actions. People will be able to switch to solar energy more readily if the state increases its subsidies on it. In their present form, solar panels are quite expensive, if not unaffordable, for a large section of society. Unless the state takes the initiative to bring them within the reach of a cross section of the population, the future of West Bengal will remain shadowed by uncertainties. It is no less important to increase popular awareness of the need to switch to solar energy and of the facilities already existing in the state. The people of West Bengal are not exactly known for their environment-friendly attitude. This is the state that offered the most stubborn resistance to liquefied petroleum gas when it was offered as an alternative to adulterated forms of fuel used in autorickshaws plying in Calcutta. This is also the state where customers get mightily offended if shopkeepers refuse to provide them with plastic carry-bags. And it is only in Calcutta perhaps — among all other metropolitan cities — that citizens coexist in perfect harmony with squalor. West Bengal has seen many political upheavals. It is now awaiting a social revolution that will make its people conscious of the costs of environmental damage.