An entire district in Rajasthan to be powered by solar energy, will end all water woes in the desert state!
Think Rajasthan and you think of never ending desert and beautiful sand dunes. The region is famous among travellers for it’s grandeur and also for being host to one of India’s most extensive desert regions. The royal lifestyle coupled with the colour and the culture of the place just draws us in. But while Rajasthan is a stunning landscape and paint-worthy for tourists, the reality is far from the perfect dreamland it is made out to be. Being one of the driest places in India, Rajasthan battles severe drought and water scarcity each year. While the state does thrive on tourism, just like the rest of India, agriculture is an important part of Rajasthan too.
For Rajasthan government, coming up with newer techniques to ensure that the water issues never crop up, Barmer district in Jaiselmer is coming up with a unique solution. While we do have villages and homes in India that boast of solar power and using solar energy to meet their electricity needs, there are hardly any complete districts that boast of running solely on solar power. If the project works out, it will definitely be one of the major firsts in India and set the benchmark for other regions too. The Mukhyamantri Solar Adharit Nalkoop Yojana (MSANY). will provide 70 solar tubewells in Barmer district to help people become reliant on solar energy and use solar power even for agriculture.
Rajasthan Electronics and Instrumentation Ltd, the firm currently handling the project has been given the green signal to spend Rs 11.91 crore for the entire project. The project and the solar tubewells will be initially handled by a private firm for 5 years post which they will be handed over to the government who will take over their working. The tubewells will help conserve water and will ensure that the region which faced acute water scarcity will not have access to water 24×7 and never face a dry day. What’s more, using the tubewells, the region will also have enough water supply for agriculture through irrigation opening up more avenues for farmers to expand their crops.
The project is expected to kick off from December post which the water woes of the citizens will end. The government is also partnering with Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA) to come up with water conservation techniques and help make the state self sufficient when it comes to water consumption and usage. Treating this as the pilot project, depending on the response gotten post the success of the project in Barmer, Rajasthan government plans to install 1000 such solar tubewells all over the state along with 400 solar deflouridation plants. The state is trying hard to battle the water scarcity which seems to have gripped certain regions in the country and it does look like they are on the right track!
Source:The India.com
