Pvt. Foundation On A Mission To Make 50 Telangana Villages Carbon-Neutral

Hyderabad: A private foundation has initiated work to make 50 villages carbon neutral, starting from Charla thanda in Nalgonda district, and claimed that this could yield results within three years. ‘Sambhav Hai’ program was launched by its founder Dr. It is based on Irfan Khan’s assertion that villages can be measured, rated and then moved from “carbon-positive” to “carbon-neutral” through a mix of water, land and energy changes followed village by village.

The initiative starts with basic mapping at the household level, progresses through interventions such as groundwater recharge, waste segregation and afforestation, and then seeks to scale from one village to 150 and eventually 750 across India.

Khan said the model is based on physical presence in villages, leverages village-level entrepreneurs and external carbon accounting, and will then seek participation from government agencies.

Founder and president of EBG Group, Dr. “It is possible. That’s why I named this initiative ‘Sambhav Hai’,” said Irfan Khan. “This is not just an idea; this is a 20 to 25-year commitment.” The group launched the project on Earth Day in Hyderabad.

Khan says the idea emerged during his time in the Himalayas, where extreme weather conditions forced him to confront the scale of environmental change. He talks about greenhouse gas emissions globally, then narrows the focus to what can be changed at the local level. A one percent reduction in global emissions would take decades if pursued on a large scale, he says, leading him to look for a unit small enough to manage but large enough to matter. According to his account, this unit became a village. “It is easier to adopt a village and make it carbon neutral than a city,” Khan said.

Khan said his team is working with a firm called Green Mentor to assess villages through carbon accounting. This exercise, as he calls it, places villages on a scale ranging from dark maroon to green, depending on environmental conditions. The pilot village fell into the most vulnerable category. The study began three months before the public launch and will be tracked over time to show measurable change, he said.

“There is a carbon calculator called Low Authority, and that calculator is used to make emissions measurements,” Khan said, explaining that the assessment takes into account Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, including methane from livestock and other sources beyond carbon dioxide. He says inspection creates a baseline and then interventions begin.

The interventions he outlines mention safe drinking water, groundwater recharge, waste segregation and composting, as well as afforestation and land practices. Khan also includes solar installations and the use of biochar in the conversation. The official target for achieving neutrality remains three years, but he allows the pace to vary from place to place, fixing a 10-20% reduction in the first year. As for finance, he adds that approximately 5 billion liras are invested in each village annually.

“When you go to the village, learn from them. Don’t go as the boss,” said Ajai Arora, an expert in carbon accounting and energy management who is also part of the Sambhav Hai team. He also warned against relying solely on technology, including artificial intelligence, to solve problems that require judgment. His argument is based on a reversal of roles. He says urban systems have a lot to learn from how villages currently operate, especially when it comes to housing and resource use. “They don’t need our support, we need their support,” he said.