Staff Reporter
Tuticorin: The District Rural Development Agency conducted elocution, essay writing and drawing competitions on the theme, ‘Renewable energy,’ for students here on Saturday. The competitions were a prelude to the Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas (Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Day) celebrations, which falls on August 20.
The aim of conducting the event is to create awareness among children of the need to tap renewable energy sources for the energy security of the nation. As many as 444 students took part in the competitions — 151 in the ‘college category’ and the rest in ‘schools category.’ The prizes to winners will be given away at a function on August 20. The winner in each category will receive Rs. 1,500, while those who win the second and third places will get Rs. 1,250 and Rs. 1,000 respectively. Earlier, the Collector, R. Palniyandi, inaugurated the cultural competitions.
Biogas plants
The DRDA authorities said that 50 biogas plants would be established in the district this financial year at a unit cost of Rs. 10,000. Of this, Rs 4,000 would be given by the government as subsidy and the rest borne by the entrepreneur. Five night soil-based biogas plants would be established in educational institutions. “It is a clean and convenient fuel that could be used for cooking and operating small motors to lift water,” they said.