The Hindu : Front Page : From Chennai to Adelaide

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Sunday, Mar 23, 2008
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From Chennai to Adelaide

Meera Srinivasan

Young achiever: Jaswant Madhavan

CHENNAI: He speaks of innovative methods to generate and conserve energy with great conviction. Climate change worries him immensely. “I want to make India the best, and I’ll go to any extent to achieve that,” he says. He is no accomplished scientist or aspiring politician, but an enthusiastic Class XI student.

Jaswant Madhavan of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Nungambakkam, is back after presenting a paper on how he thinks he could transform Chennai into a green city, at the 3rd International Solar Cities World Congress in Adelaide, Australia. His project, which was adjudged the best among entries from 200 countries, won him an invitation from the South Australian government to participate in the Congress.

His project considers the Chennai model and looks at possibilities to enhance power generation through innovative methods. “I think tapping solar energy is a very important option we should consider more seriously,” he says.

Jaswant explored the idea of placing micro generators to tap energy from a range of non-conventional sources. “I divided my project into eight phases and looked at different options step by step, as Chennai is a large city.” After an extensive research, with guidance from his teacher Mahalakshmi Ramjee, he came up with a nearly 150-page report.

A junior team from the T.P. Road branch of the school also went to Adelaide to participate in the Congress. Their project on Pammal was adjudged the best at the national level. Principal of the school Valli Arunachalam, who led the team on this visit, recalls the encouraging response Jaswant’s presentation evoked among senior academics, Nobel laureates and international experts on environment. Apart from the Congress experience, students also got time for fun activities. They interacted with touring Indian cricketers, went to beaches, shopped lots and learnt a great deal.

Jaswant will shortly leave for the United Kingdom, leading a three-member student delegation to be part of a training programme on ‘Climate Change’ offered by the British Council. He has been declared the ‘International Climate Change Champion’ of India after a series of qualifying presentations and interviews. He will participate in the G8 plus 5 conference focussing on environmental issues, to be held in Japan this May. “At home I have about 300 plants. I practise source segregation and check the condition of our rainwater harvesting system periodically,” he says. Environmental consciousness, indeed, begins at home.

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