Work on the ambitious solar city project approved by the central government will start rolling out in June, said Mysore City Corporation (MCC) commissioner K S Raykar.
He made the announcement at a workshop on renewable energy usage and proper utilisation of LPG gas in association with Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) and Institution of Engineers (IoE) here on Tuesday.
The city was among the 10 in the country chosen as model solar cities by the central government. Due to the selection, Mysore would receive 50 per cent grants to implement the project.
Raykar said MCC had submitted a proposal to the central government indicating that the urban local body would be able to reduce 10 per cent of consumption in the next five years from non-renewable energy sources including fuels and electricity.
Following this, the government has approved Rs 1,612 crore for implementing the projects, which would cut down on non-renewable sources of energy. At the same time, he said it is essential that the Amba Vilas Palace with more than one lakh bulbs should be completely run on solar. This would ensure that the lights of the palace could be turned on each day instead of just on Saturday and Sunday. While plans are on to ensure that steps to Chamundi Hill are completely run on solar lights, cow dung at Pinjrapole, which offers shelter to 3,600 cattle, could be used to provide gas for cooking. Even households can contribute by using kitchen waste to gas converters, which would provide gas for at least two hours. Such projects would ease the burden on households while at the same time reduce dependency on non-renewable energy sources.
Observing that Karnataka was a power scarce state, Raykar stressed on the need for women to help in popularising the use of solar and other renewable energy sources.With the MCC offering subsidy of up to 30 per cent
Mayor M C Rajeshwari on a whirlwind visit inaugurated the programme and left immediately. KREDL project engineer Dinesh Kumar D K, IoE chairman A S Satish and Cesc director (technical) Bhagyanaik were present.
Pourakarmika colony to light up
Raykar mentioned that MCC is implementing a project to completely provide energy to a Pourakarmika Colony using renewable energy sources.
The scheme taken up under Rajeev Awaas Yojana would connect the electricity generated by solar to the power grid.
Excess supply provided to the power grid would be paid for by Cesc.
It would act as an additional income generator for the residents. Gujarat which has already implemented a similar project is offering residents Rs 15 per unit of electricity generated. Cesc at present is offering Rs 5.80 per unit, he added.