Solar energy to lit dark villages in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jun 18 (UNI) Mizoram government, with the help of Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, has chalked out a comprehensive one-year vision plan to provide electricity to all un-electrified villages, including house-holds, through renewable energy resources by 2007.

The project aims to give power to un-electrified households and the much needed energy to industrial sites in the state.

Mizoram, endowed with rich forests, would identify all kinds of available degraded wastelands irrespective of private lands, council lands, unclassed areas, revenue lands to tap the non-conventional energy resources in various forms.

Renewable energy resources include solar energy, wind energy, water energy from bamboos and biomass.

According to the blueprint, the government, under its Zoram Electronic Development Agency (ZEDA), has constituted district advisory committee in all district headquarters under the chairmanship of respective deputy commisioners with members from various organisation and experts that would conceive and oversee the implementation of the programs envisaged under the new project.

''Our department has already started taking initiatives for the effective implementation of the government's non-conventional energy policy in a phased manner'', project co-ordinator of ZEDA, Benjamin L Tlumtea told UNI.

Under the new energy policy, apart from giving power to the unelectrified villages through renewable, the government, under the advisory committee would soon frame a law to make mandatory use solar water heater systems for all the government buildings.

Besides this, we have invested Rs 37 crore to provide stand alone Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) power plant of 25 KW capacity at district civil hospital, TNT calvary hospital, maternity hospital and other health centres across the state capital, he said.

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