To meet the drinking water needs of people in Naxal-affected areas, the government is planning to set up 10,000 solar based water systems in 78 districts which have been hit by Left Wing Extremism.
“We have just prepared a proposal for 10,000 solar based water systems which supply drinking water to communities in rural areas,” Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said while addressing a conference here. Ramesh said that this ambitious project would cost Rs 540 crores. “It is a very ambitious project of 10,000 solar based drinking water systems with a total cost of 540 crores which we are going to fund. We have the money, money is not the problem,” he said. Ramesh said that this project marked the convergence of the twin aims of developing rural areas and promoting use of renewable energy.
“For the first time we have taken the programme and said that lets address this issue of renewable energy because there are villages and habitations which are not going to seek electricity in the near future because of a variety of reasons… for remoteness, forest areas and so on,” he said.
Later speaking to reporters, Ramesh said that 200 water systems which utilized German made ground water pumps and solar panels made in Pune, had already been installed in Naxal affected Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. “We are going to do it in all the 78 Naxal affected districts. We have already installed 200 such systems in Gadchiroli district,” Ramesh said. He also said that there was need to carry out development in areas affected by Naxalism. Ramesh was speaking at a conference which had been called to discuss “Towards greening Rural Development programmes in India.”
