Ghoramara, one of the most vulnerable islands to climatic changes in the Sunderbans and severely impacted by Cyclone Yaas, will have a solar plant.
A solar project to enable all the 900-odd households on the island to get electrified within around one and a half years has been approved by the Centre’s department of science and technology (DST).
IIT Kharagpur and Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur will implement the Rs 4.5-crore project and monitor it for the first five years.
“Four projects on such solar plants got the sanction, including Ghoramara. Under the project, electrical connection will be provided to all families from the 250kw power plant...,” said S.P. Gon Choudhury, solar power expert and co-chairman of the committee under DST.
Gon Choudhury pointed out that though conventional grid power has reached many places in the Sunderbans, it is technically difficult to take conventional power to Ghoramara considering its highly unstable and quickly eroding nature. “This is the reason why I recommended Ghoramara,” said the scientist.
Ghoramara has lost more than half of its land to rising water levels in the last few decades.
According to the project details, families will get power for about 18 hours in a day, including the entire night; the emergency services will have 24-hour power backup.
“According to the proposal, every family will be able to switch on four lights, one fan and a television with the power they receive,” said an IIT scientist attached with the project.
Ghoramara gram panchayat pradhan Sanjib Sagar said: “It’s great news for the people of Ghoramara.”