Goa Govt to Provide Solar Lamps for Forest-Dwellings 

The permission will be sought from the forest department, which is a requirement in wildlife protected areas, to provide  solar lamps to interested households.

The Goa Energy Development Agency and the power department jointly to provide solar lamps to the households who don’t have access to power and are living in remote forest areas of the state.

The families are spread across forest regions of Sanguem, Sanvordem, Cotigao, and Molem in South Goa and Valpoi in North Goa. There are more than 80 families those are still living in the darkness, despite the government’s claim of achieving 100 percent electrification.

The permission will be sought from the forest department, which is a requirement in wildlife protected areas, to provide  solar lamps to interested households.

Commenting on the development, Chief Electrical Engineer, N N Reddy said, taking connections to the houses, which are scattered, will not only involve huge investment, but is not feasible. “The same lines provided to other areas in the village will have to be extended to these households and in case a tree falls in the forest, it could affect supply to the entire area,” he said, adding that solar power is the best solution for these households.

“We will start with solar lamps and, in future, we can consider solar panels too,” he further added. There are many houses where people don’t live throughout the year, but come for few months during the cashew season only.

Two years ago around 19 houses in Nadkem-Canacona were electrified. However, the electricity department had to take precautions not to disturb wildlife area. The cables were laid underground rather than overground and also were not permitted to fix streetlights in the area.

Source: ET