Sun riders

Until recently, men, women and children in about half a dozen villages in Sonebhadra district faced skin and body abnormalities due to high fluoride content in the groundwater. No cases have been reported since December 2005, five months after photo-voltaic water pumps were installed for supplying suitable potable water to the villagers.

Located in the hilly terrain of the Vindhyachal range bordering Madhya Pradesh, Sonebhadra district is very rich in minerals. That, however, means the soil in certain interior villages of the district have higher fluoride content, which seeps into the groundwater.

8220;A few villages of the Chopan block that are at a good distance of about 80 km from Robertsganj the administrative headquarters of the district were the worst affected,8221; said LB Pandey, chief development officer of Sonebhadra. 8220;Villagers suffer from deformities of limbs, yellowness of teeth, digestion problems etc.8221;

Pandey and regional officers of NEDA also realised that the fluoride problem would have to be solved while keeping in mind the power crisis. 8220;We conducted a survey, along with the Jal Nigam, to find out a potential solution for drinking water. After initial tests, we found the water on the outskirts of the villages was suitable for usage. Laboratory tests further gave the confirmation to start the project,8221; said Rajiv Mishra, project officer, NEDA.

Seven villages8212;Kachnarwa, Rohnia, Damar, Padrach, Padawa, Kodwari and Nai Basti8212;were selected for providing water using solar photo voltaic SPV water pumps. Eventually, in July 2005, three villages got the pumps for Rs 35.9 lakh, funded by the Shaktinagar area development authority. 8220;The digestion problem of the people also improved and the yellow teeth problem, specially in the children, also decreased. No fresh cases have been reported since then,8221; says Mishra.

Weighing options

Weighbridges are a familiar sight on highways but in Uttar Pradesh, finding electricity to run these bridges on the outskirts was becoming increasingly difficult. Most of them needed a diesel generator for back-up.

Ghaziabad8217;s Divya Monga, however, decided to buy NEDA8217;s idea to install SPV gensets. 8220;I used to spend about Rs 2.25 lakh per year and an additional Rs 12,000 for the maintenance of the genset, besides paying electricity bills. The genset was of 5KW and used to operate between eight and 10 hours per day,8221; said Monga.

In December 2004, Monga opted for a solar-powered system. He took an SPV AC Alternate Current system as it required less solar panels. No other weighbridge in the state used a solar-powered system. 8220;The installation cost me Rs 2.86 lakh and I saved Rs 2.47 lakh after the completion of one year,8221; said Monga. Now, he uses the SPV systems at two other weighbridges too, on GT Road and Loha Mandi, Ghaziabad.

In the light of development

Jaunpur district magistrate Anurag Yadav was looking for a viable means, in terms of funds and energy, to bring light after dusk to the villages here when he stumbled upon NEDA8217;s proposal. 8220;Along with the DM, we conducted a survey and identified the spots for installing solar street lights. The basic objective was to provide better infrastructural amenities to improve the quality of life of the citizen,8221; said VP Gupta, project officer, NEDA, Jaunpur. The places of installation were identified on the basis of the need of the local market and the community.

In the past four months, more than 700 solar streetlights have been installed in the villages here. 8220;This was done during the first phase. About 200 more streetlights are in the process of installation in the second phase,8221; said Gupta. The initiative is now being tied up with housing projects for the backward communities, particularly the Musahars.