Solar Street Lights to Light up West Bengal’s Sunderbans Villages

Solar street lights for Sunderbans villages

Around the world, solar street lights are gaining popularity. Villages too are embracing the idea of addressing the human-wildlife conflict through community solar programmes that include the establishment of solar street lights.  Now, five Sunderbans Villages in West Bengal are set to to welcome solar street lights.

With the set up of these solar street lights, that are to come up in Kultali range, close to 4,516 villagers will no longer be plagued by pitch-dark evenings. This is also an attempt to curb man-wild conflict, where snake bites have become a menace in the villages of Bhubaneshwar, Debipur, Modhho Gurguria, Purba Gurguria and Deulbari, Chituri Forest in Kultali range. These villages are located adjacent to the Sunderbans and the villagers suffer from severe injuries every now and then. The number of deaths are also rising continuously. It does not help that the nearest hospital is over 35 kms away. Not just snakes, but even tigers are also constantly on the prowl, aggravating the human-wild conflict. The electricity crisis in these villages in proximity to the Sunderbans has been a contributory factor to the high mortality rate of 65%.

The forest department and Kolkata Society for Cultural Heritage (KSCH) will thus set up solar lights in these villages to address the challenges. TCG Foundation, a Kolkata-based CSR initiative, will also lend its cooperation to this much-needed project.

Twenty five solar street lights have already been installed in the villages, where renewable green energy is also being ramped up along with ongoing efforts to curb carbon footprints. On an annual basis, the poles will generate renewable electricity worth 182.5 kilowatt and help supply electricity without any interruptions even at night. At the same time, they will also deflect away the attention of tigers.

The forest department has already located areas where the poles will be established. Communities have been created among the villagers to make the project a success by keeping a watch on solar panels. Capacity-building training will also commence soon.