Chetan Singh Solanki, professor at IIT Bombay is on yatra to promote solar energy, visits NITK

MANGALURU: Chetan Singh Solanki, professor at IIT Bombay, and founder of the Energy Swaraj Foundation, visited NITK Surathkal in his solar bus, as part of his Energy Swaraj Yatra, on Wednesday.
He is popularly known as the ‘Solar Man of India’ and ‘Solar Gandhi’. Addressing the budding engineers, he said, “The climate is not changing; it has changed. Over the last 30 to 40 years, we have realised that the government’s efforts cannot be successful, without the participation of the people.
We must understand how to minimise energy use. By achieving energy independence, the globe will become carbon-neutral or carbon-free. Realise that climate change is a very severe problem; we should all be a part of the solution; so far, we have all been a part of the pollution.”
Solanki began the Energy Swaraj Yatra in a solar bus in November 2020, and will continue it for 11 years, until 2030. He has pledged not to return home for 11 years, and stay in the solar bus.
The yatra is designed to create a public movement towards the adoption of 100% solar energy, in the wake of serious and catastrophic climate change.
Solanki has travelled across the world, covering 30 countries, to spread the message of adopting solar energy. In his ongoing yatra, he has already travelled more than 36,000km, and reached out to about 1.3 lakh people, across 17 states.