The Chhattisgarh Government will be establishing around 340 kms of ‘live post solar fencing’ in the forest villages at an estimated cost of Rs8.50 crore. The solar fencing which operates on batteries that are charged by a solar panel will prevent entry of wild animals into villages and farms.
The fence wires do not carry live current. The fence only has mild pulsating direct current flowing in the fence which does not cause any harm to the animals.
It may be recalled that the Chhattisgarh Government which now also has an elaborate ‘solar footprint’ in covering areas which cannot have conventional power supply due to various geographical reasons is gearing up to ensure drinking water reaches tribal communities in summers reasons.
Moreover, there are 3000 drinking water pumps operated by solar energy have been installed in the State, officials stated. Chhattisgarh 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 7000 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 centers. CREDA has also established a 25 Kw solar energy equipment in the Keshkal valley on Jagdalpur road about 30 kms from the district headquarters which had helped street lights remaining illuminated in the 6 kms 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 which now have solar powered street lights 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.
The decision to use a particular technology is taken by the State implementing agencies after examination of the technical feasibility and resource availability.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy provides Central Financial Assistance upto 90 per cent of the cost of the renewable energy systems subject to pre specified maximum amount for each technology.
The cumulative sanctions of the villages and hamlets under the programme since its inception had reached 13,059. The main states where the programme has greater relevance due to difficulty to access areas are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and North Eastern states, the report stated. A special priority is provided to villages affected by left Wing Extremism in line with the policy of the Central Government, it stated.
The identification of the remote villages/villages had been broadly entrusted to the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). The State Governments shortlist unelectrified villages/hamlets in their states which are not likely to be electrified through grid and send their names to the Ministry for verification by the REC for non coverage under RGGVY for grid electrification.
Moreover, Chhattisgarh achieved a total commissioned capacity of 7.1000 MW from grid connected solar PV power projects as on March 31, 2014, according to the 2013-14 annual report of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The total commissioned capacity of such Solar PV power projects was 4.000 MW as on March 31, 2013 in Chhattisgarh, it stated.
The grid connected power projects were commissioned under Phase-I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). A total of 11 projects of 50.5 MW capacity under the ‘migration scheme’ and 26 projects of 140 MW capacity under Batch-I were commissioned during the year across the country.
The JNNSM is a key initiative of the Union Government and the State Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges. The Mission is one of the several initiatives that were part of National Action Plan on Climate Change, it stated.
The JNNSM was launched on January 11, 2010 and the Mission targets included- deployment of 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, 2000 MW of off-grid solar applications including 20 million solar lights by 2022, 20 million square metre of solar thermal collector area besides creating favourable conditions for developing solar manufacturing capability in the country and to support R&D and capacity building activities to achieve grid parity by 2022. The Mission is to be completed in three phases, the report stated.
For the first phase of the Mission, the Union Cabinet last year approved a target to set up 1,100 MW grid connected solar plants including 100 MW capacity plants as rooftop and other small solar power plants till March 2013.
In addition, a target of 200 MW capacity equivalent of off-grid solar applications and 7 million square metre solar thermal collector area were also approved.