Patna: The state government in Bihar has begun efforts to illuminate every village with solar lamps in its bid to promote renewable sources of energy and fulfil is pre-poll promises.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar during his pre-poll campaigns had promised to light up lanes and by-lanes of every village with solar lamps if voted back to power. Now that Kumar is back to power again, his government has started the exercise to fulfil his pre-poll commitment he made to the voters.
As part of the exercise, the Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) has moved ahead with the plan to carry out survey of the villages and hamlets. The key points of survey will be how many villages are densely populated, how many poles are required and also how many and what kinds of solar laps will be required to install in the villages. According to an official report, there are a total of 45,103 villages in the state.
Proper survey
The main problem for the authorities is that majority of villages have meandering lanes and by-lanes, rather than being straight and hence, that requires proper survey as to where to install the solar lamps so that light reaches each corner of the village. Informed sources said the government wants to start the project in the current fiscal itself
Currently, the state is entirely dependent on thermal energy but now it has been trying hard to develop alternative source of energy as well. Last year, the state government issued a directive for the installation of solar plates on all government buildings and offices to promote green energy.
As one of India’s poorest states, Bihar has traditionally been one of the slow-movers in embracing large-scale solar. The state has just 10 projects with a combined capacity of 100 MW, according to a report.
The government said there was a need to spread awareness among people to install solar plates on ponds as well as wetlands.
