For 68 years since independence, life for the residents of Fakirpur and Chanduhar villages, which had never been electrified, came to a standstill at sun down. This year, though, the neighbouring villages were hand-picked to be a part of the Samajwadi government's dream project of a 100% solar-powered village. In a fully-funded initiative of the state government, everything from flour mills to submersible water pumps and street lights will be electrified with solar energy.
Though solar street lights have already lit up narrow lanes of the villages , the 450 homes in the two villages will be formally inaugurated on July 7 by former president APJ Abdul Kalam, in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav and Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav.
Life has transformed for the 2,000-odd residents of Chanduhar and Fakirpur of Bahosi gram sabha by the completion of a solar-powered micro-grid set up under the project.
However, behind the palpable excitement of the people lies the efforts of gram sabha head Jagdish Singh.
After the state's clearance, the people of both the villages came forward to help the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) team. “One Rajendra Singh gave his two `bighas' of agricultural land for the project.The villagers also helped us in installing poles,“ recollected project officer S K Gupta.
After power was given to the villages on June 9, “we had distributed sweets and special `prasad' to celebrate the occasion,“ Jagdish Singh said. He added that the villages are highly vulnerable during monsoon, when agriculture land gets badly affected . “We were forced to shell extra money to irrigate our lands by hiring pump-sets from nearby towns,“ he informed.
The 250 kilowatt mini-grid worth Rs.6.15 crore, was built in a record time of four months.
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