It was celebration time for the people of Pandri, a village
in the Purulia district of West Bengal, illuminated with lightening after years
of hassle. The excitement doubled when the village was installed with first
solar-powered electricity and also became the first in the country to evolve as
a decentralized solar power village.
Delivered by the Art of Living, a non-profit organization in
Bengal, under the Sri Sri Rural Development Program Trust (SSRDPT), the
eco-friendly device has over 72 solar panels covering an area of approximately
2,000 square feet and drawing power from the 1.2 kilo watt solar power grid
built in the region.
There are some more villages in India that Almost works with
solar Technology.
They are
Kannauj,Uttar Pradesh:
Two villages in Kannuj district in Uttar Pradesh are next to join the
category of solar powered villages. It is strange but true that even after 68
years of independence, life of the people of fakirpur and chanduhar villages in
kannuj came to a standstill after sunset. The reason being these villages had
never been electrified. Today ,however, there is a change in the scenario. In june
2015, kannuj was chosen as a part of akhilesh yadav-led samajwadi government’s
dream project of providing solar
power. A fully-funded initiative of the state government, today these remote
villages of Kannauj in UP have solar energy in 450 homes, streets, flour mills
to submersible water pumps. This has changed the life of 2,000-odd residents of
Chanduhar and Fakirpur.
Baripatha, Odisha:
Recently,
another small village in India came to the limelight as a solar powered
village. This village is Baripatha in Odhisa, a tribal village about 25 km southwest
of Bhubaneswar. This is Odhisa’s first solar powered village. The village has
61 households, and a population of about 350 people. Sadly, there was no
electricity all these years in this village. Co-funded by ECCO Electronics (a
solar products manufacturer) and Jakson Group (a diversified power solutions
provider), individual solar units with two lamps were provided in all 61
households. A central one-kilowatt unit that provides electricity to 8 street
lamps was also installed.
Dharnai,Bihar:
The first solar
powered village in India is Dharnai in Bihar. After 33 years of darkness,
Dharnai on 20 July 2014 declared itself as an energy-independent village. It is
the first Indian village powered entirely by solar electricity. Yes, indeed
this was a matter of great pride and achievement not only for the people of
Dharnai but for all Indians when more than 300 million people in India live
without electricity. While supplying electricity was initially taken up by the
state government, unfortunately it failed to do so.
Now
the children of the village play or study under electric lamps in the nights,
listen to the radio and watch TV, all because of solar energy. It is an 8.7
kilowatt power plant. Installed at a cost of Rs 31.5 lakh, it provides
electricity to all 69 houses in the village. Development
Alternatives, a non-profit organisation, in collaboration with Scatec Solar of
Norway, gave the village the Community-based Solar Power Plant. Rampura is 17
km from Jhansi.
It
is indeed a matter of shame for all of us that even after so many years of
independence and when our country is impressively progressing in science and
technology, modern infrastructure, and with more and more emphasis on digitalization,
even today more than 300 million people in India are living without
electricity. Let us hope that more and more villages follow the examples set by
these villages with proper help and support from the state governments, NGOs
and power corporations.
Norwegian Minister for
Environment and International Development Erik Solheim inaugurated the project.
Solheim, an Indologist, told the villagers: “Your village draw its name from
Lord Rama. And you will fight the demon of darkness (neglect, underdevelopment
and backwardness) with the sun.” The plant was inaugurated on January 26.
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