J&K village to become first carbon-free solar panchayat

The residents of Palli in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Samba district are upbeat over the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to their village, according to recent media reports. The village is set to become the first carbon-free solar panchayat in the union territory.

As per reports, the work is going on at war-footing, especially on the 500 KV solar plant which is being installed in a record time of nearly three weeks on a total area of 6,408 square metres to provide clean electricity to 340 houses in the model panchayat under the central government’s ‘Gram Urja Swaraj’ programme.

“A twenty-five member team is working round the clock to complete the Rs 2.75 crore project in the next couple of days before its formal inauguration by the prime minister during his visit to the village on April 24,” chairman and managing director, Central Electronics Limited, Chetan Prakash Jain said.

He said the electricity generated will be distributed to the village, having a daily requirement of 2,000 units, through the local power grid station.

Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Anuradha Gupta has already distributed solar ‘Chulhas’ (stoves) among the beneficiaries in the village which has over 450 houses. The rest of the houses will be covered in the next phase after the prime minister’s visit.

On the National Panchayti Raj Day, the prime minister is scheduled to fly to Pali village from Jammu airport to address a gathering including over 30,000 Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) members of J&K besides around 700 panchayats across the country virtually.

The launch of the electric bus service by the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) from the village to Jammu and the installation of the first ATM was a long pending demand of the panchayat, said Ravinder Sharma, local sarpanch affiliated with the BJP. He said almost all the households are being provided solar panels to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.