Solar lights dispel darkness in Sirumalai tribal area
Students, an NGO help in taking electricity to a remote hilly terrain.With the installation of solar power lights in tribal habitations on Sirumalai hills, a decades-old dream of tribal has been fulfilled.
To begin with, 50 houses in remote locations have been provided electricity.
Surrounded by dense forests and hilly terrains, the tribals have been living in remote locations without light for long. They used to encounter wild animals in pitch dark nights.
Ray of hope
“Now our houses are illuminated with LED bulbs bringing a ray of hope in our lives. Our children are very happy, because they need not wind up their school work at sunset and go to bed. Now, they can continue their studies at night,” says K. Ramasamy, a tribal.
Liter of Light, an NGO from Bengaluru made available the solar lights in tribal habitations in interior forests. Students of P.S.N.A. College of Engineering and Technology extended their hand in erection and commissioning of solar lights.
“It was a hard task. We had to carry these lights as headload into interior forests as there was no proper road facility to reach the spot,” says Pankaj Dixit, co-founder of the NGO.
The solar street lights are low cost and environment friendly.
“To scale down cost, we used recycled plastic material, PVC pipes and bottles and other locally available resources to erect the light. These lights are completely maintenance-free for three to four years,” he adds.
The team has decided not to stop their work with this hamlet.
Roughly 400 tribal houses in remote locations are still in need of power.
Source: thehindu
