Bhanjanagar: Schools in Ganjam district will harness clean and green energy like solar power to electrify their premises instead of resorting to conventional energy sources, a report said Wednesday. The matter came to the fore after the district administration set the ball rolling for electrification of 535 schools through installation of solar power systems. The move will help reduce electricity bills and protect the natural resources and will also help students gain knowledge about non-conventional energy sources, people in the know of things said.
For this purpose the district administration will spent over Rs 9 crore. It aims to complete the works within a period of six months.
Reports said 83 smart schools in the first phase, 233 in the second and the remainder will be provided with solar power equipment in the third phase. The smaller schools will have solar power systems of two kilo watt while the bigger schools will be installed with four kilo watt solar panel systems.
For successful implementation of the plan, the district collector has talked to all concerned headmasters, block development officers (BDOs) and other officials in a video conference held last week.
As part of this move, 25 high schools under Bhanjanagar block will be electrified through solar panels. The move however, is likely to hit roadblocks as works on many of the schools have not yet got the ‘smart’ tag.
For example, the Badakodanda, Galeri and an Adarsha Vidyalaya under Bhanjanagar block were upgraded to smart schools in the first phase. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik even inaugurated these smart schools November 16, 2021 before the commencement of three-tier panchayat elections. It has been four months since the schools were inaugurated but works on their premises are yet to get completed.
Work on the toilet, glass fitting on the window panels of the library hall, outer electrification, up-gradation of a garden, playground and a hall in Badakodanda Jawahar High School are yet to be completed
When contacted, Bhanjanagar BDO Anil Kumar Sethi said the schools will be electrified with funds which will be available from Mo School Abhiyan and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) accounts.
The district rural development agency (DRDA) will implement the project. He however, said that all works in the schools upgraded to smart schools in the first phase have been completed.