Odisha inaugurates solar-based energy system in govt school

On Thursday, Odisha Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra inaugurated a solar-based energy system in a government-run high school at Ganjam district's Narayanpatna.

In Kankia panchayat, the Narayanpatna high school is one among 535 government-run high schools that have been taken up by the Ganjam district administration to establish a solar energy facility with a Rs 9 crore investment.

The solar panels will be installed in the transformed high schools under the 5T initiatives, where the infrastructure facilities have already been finished in the first phase.

Around 366 high schools have already been created under the 5T initiative.

Additional chief secretary Anu Garg, secretary to the chief minister, and 5T V K Pandian, who accompanied the chief secretary to the high school, reportedly complimented the district administration for these innovative efforts to make a go-green concept in the district schools.

The work of solar panel installation is going on in full swing. Over 30 high schools have already been covered in solar energy so far, and the remaining will be finished in the next three months, said Vijay Amruta Kulange, Collector Ganjam.

He said that the project expenditure would be met via the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of various companies and the contribution of Mo Schools.

He said that the solar energy generation units would be established in the schools to supply 2 kW and 4 kW energy in small and big high schools.

Shinde Dattatraya Bhausaheb, project director, District rural development agency (DRDA) told the media that the smart class, four fans, interactive panel, four lights, e-library, laboratory, lights in the toilets, and verandah of each school will be lighted with the solar energy.

Besides making the school's energy independent, the project will also develop an awareness of renewable energy use amongst the students. It will also allow the schools to lower their expenditure on power bills.

He said that the electricity bills in the schools have gone up due to the interactive panels used in smart classes and computers in the e-libraries installed in all the transformed high schools. The solar energy project will enable the schools to decrease their power bills and uninterrupted power supply.

The high-level team led by the chief secretary also visited Gajapati and Ganjam districts. They looked into the field-level progress of different developmental projects in the districts.

The team reviewed the Ghatakeswar Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project progress being built over the river Ghadka with an assessed cost of Rs 172.06 crore. Inspecting the progress with field-level engineers, the chief secretary led them to complete the project by December 2022.

Located at a 20 km distance from Berhampur city, this project covered a catchment area of about 23.55 sq km and would irrigate around 600 hectares of land parcel in the Kukudakhandi block. In addition to this, the project would also supply 8.25 MLD of drinking water to more than one lakh people in Berhampur city and adjoining areas.

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