The Kolagal Grama Panchayat has adopted solar energy to address the erratic supply of power and frequent power cuts.
With this, the residents in the village, with a population of 14,000, have heaved a sigh of relief as they will be able to get their ration cards, job cards and other certificates almost immediately. They were forced to wait for the resumption of power supply earlier.
Though there was an inverter and a battery backup system, it did not work for long.
Cost
The gram panchayat has spent around Rs. 90,000 for installing the solar panels, battery and other things to generate around 500 watts of power, sufficient to use four fans, eight bulbs and two computers.
“After adopting the solar lighting system, our power bills have come down considerably. We used to pay around Rs, 1,800 to Rs. 2000 a month for power and now we are getting the minimum bill,” Huleppa, panchayat president.
Thimmanagouda, panchayat development officer, admits that the panchayat was now able to extend all the services of various government welfare schemes and issuance of certificates without delay.
