Key to Healthcare in Disaster-Prone Regions | Energy for Health, Mizoram

Cyclone Remal severely impacted Mizoram, resulting in at least 37 fatalities and widespread destruction, particularly in Aizawl, where landslides and heavy rainfall displaced hundreds and damaged critical infrastructure.
Globally, the frequency of natural disasters has surged tenfold since the 1960s, with climate change significantly contributing to this increase.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change.
As these climatic events become more frequent and severe, we need improved adaptation strategies, without contributing further to climate change.
According to WHO, climate change is impacting health in a myriad of ways, including by leading to death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms and floods, the disruption of food systems, increases in zoonoses and food-, water- and vector-borne diseases, and mental health issues.
In climate vulnerable regions, the death rate from extreme weather events in the last decade was 15 times higher than in less vulnerable ones.
Following Cyclone Remal, people in Mizoram faced significant challenges, including power outages that left many areas without electricity for several days. The cyclone also caused extensive loss of connectivity due to landslides and road closures, severely disrupting transportation, including the blockage of National Highway-6, which isolated the state capital, Aizawl.
Decentralized renewable energy (DRE) driven systems develop autonomous, independent and resilient infrastructures which empower communities. In healthcare, this is essential for delivering critical care to mothers, newborns, and vulnerable populations affected by such disasters.