How Greenathon changed lives in a Rajasthan village

Ahead of the third edition of Greenathon on June 4-5 this year, Campaign Ambassador Priyanka Chopra and NDTV's Vikram Chandra visit Manawas in Rajasthan, a village now lit up by solar power.

The second edition of the campaign helped raise over 3 crore to change lives in villages across the country through TERI's Lighting a Billion Lives initiative.

Here's a look at how money raised through the Greenathon changed lives in this village.

Solar power has transformed lives in Manawas, a village once steeped in darkness after sundown.

Here, Priyanka takes first-hand lessons in milking a cow.

Villagers say their incomes have gone up as they can now continue working late into the night without worrying about the cost of kerosene.

Priyanka Chopra and Vikram Chandra watch and learn.

Greenathon has raised Rs 4.3 crore in donations so far and this has helped 50,000 people across rural India. One of the big impacts has been on education as lamps enable children to study after sunset.

A bumpy ride for Vikram and Priyanka on a camel cart lit up by solar lanterns.

A camera in hand, Priyanka and Vikram take a walk around the village.

Priyanka and Vikram meet villagers to find out how the green initiative has changed their lives.
Over 1.6 billion people in the world lack access to electricity; roughly 25 per cent are in India alone. For these people, life comes to a standstill after dusk. And it's the lives of these villagers that we hope to light up through this campaign.

Priyanka and Vikram with the Green warriors at Manawas. Volunteers from around the country have helped realise this dream of Lighting a Billion Lives.

India took the green pledge to solar power villages that would otherwise be without electricity for a decade or more.