A total of 240 solar pumping units have been established in Chhattisgarh by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) under its solar pumping programme for irrigation and drinking water under off-grid and decentralised solar applications scheme.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched solar pumping programme for irrigation and drinking water under off-grid and decentralised solar applications scheme for 1,00,000 pumps during 2014-15. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The number of solar pumps installed in various States is as follows- Chhattisgarh (240), Bihar (139), Haryana (469), Assam 45, Goa (15), Gujarat (85), Himachal Pradesh (6), J&K (39), Karnataka (551), Kerala (810), Madhya Pradesh (87), Maharashtra (239), Manipur (40), Meghalaya (19), Mizoram(37), Nagaland (3), Orissa (56), Punjab (1,857), Rajasthan (11,603), Tamil Nadu (829), Tripura (151), Uttar Pradesh (1,348), Uttarakhand (26), West Bengal (48), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (5), Chandigarh (12), Delhi (90), Puducherry (21) and Andhra Pradesh (613).
The Minister further stated that for this purpose, Rs400 crore have been allocated for current Financial Year. So far, 19,501 solar pumps for irrigation have been installed in the country, he stated. Notably, there are 3,000 drinking water pumps operated by solar energy have been installed in Chhattisgarh, officials here stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh also ranks first in the country in terms of providing drinking water through solar powered pumps, officials stated. Out of the total number of solar pumps installed in the entire country in financial year 2013-14, nearly 90 per cent of the solar pumps were installed in Chhattisgarh only, they claimed.
The Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) under its 'Hot Water Supply Scheme' has established a plant in insurgency infested Kanker district of insurgency infested Bastar region to supply 10,100 litres of hot water per day to the various Government and private establishments.
Besides, the agency has also installed a plant to supply 7,000 litres of hot water per day in Jungle Warfare Training Centre in the district. This apart, a total of 30 solar powered equipment had also been installed in the primary health centers besides solar power plants had been established in Koyalibada, Civil Hospital, Pankhajur and at Prime Health Centre, Amabeda. The solar powered equipment had helped during emergencies to operate the deep freezer and other key equipment in the health centres.
CREDA has also established a 25 KW solar energy equipment in the Keshkal valley on Jagdalpur road about 30 km from the district headquarters, which had helped streetlights remaining illuminated in the 6 km length of the valley while preventing accidents.
There are also about 13 villages in the interior parts of Kanker district, which cannot receive power supply in the conventional mode now have solar powered streetlights installed in the villages. The installation of the solar powered equipment had benefitted nearly 4,000 families residing in the district.
Moreover, by installing over 1,100 solar pumps, pure and safe water supply has been made available to the inaccessible, non-electrified and tribal areas of the entire State. As they function with solar energy, water supply here is free from any kind of power hindrance.
Along with settlements, availability of clean and safe drinking water has been ensured in schools also. So far, arrangement for clean drinking water has been made in 46,975 schools in the State. In Aanganwadis also, clean drinking water arrangement for children has been made through hand pumps or tap connection.
At present, tube-well is the main source of drinking water in villages of the State. Because of irregular rainfall and excessive exploration of ground water, ground water level has been declined in some parts of the State. Quality of water has also been affected.
To deal with this problem and to maintain the ground water level, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has constructed 39 stop dams, 119 check dams and 19 percolation tanks in various areas of the State. In order to lessen dependability on ground water for drinking, emphasis is being given to supply water from schemes based on surface sources. The Government has been trying to supply clean and pure water to maximum urban and rural population through pipe, in place of hand pumps, officials stated.
At present, through 2,169 Nal-Jal schemes, water supply to more than 43 lakh village population has been done by pipelines, which is 24 per cent of the rural population of the State. Significantly, on rural electrification, as many as 568 remote villages in Chhattisgarh out of the sanctioned 682 were electrified under Central government’s ‘Remote Village Electrification Programme’ as on March 31, 2014, according to the annual report 2013-14 of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The ‘Remote Village Electrification Programme’ is under implementation across the country for providing financial support for lighting/basic electricity using renewable energy sources in those unelectrified remote census villages, unelectrified hamlets of electrified census villages where grid connectivity is either not feasible or not cost effective and not covered under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) for grid electrification.
Although a variety of renewable energy technologies are possible for lighting/basic electrification of remote villages including small hydro, biomass and solar energy, yet, solar PV lighting remains the most preferred, it stated.