Special solar lanterns for Aila-hit Sundarbans villagers
June 15th, 2009 - 8:38 pm ICT by IANSKolkata, June 15 (IANS) Villagers in the remote islands of the Sundarbans can now avail of a new variety of solar lanterns that can be charged directly under sunlight. Their solar power panels in the mangrove forests, the only source of electricity in the area, were damaged by the Cyclone Aila earlier last month.
The lantern, priced at Rs.1,000, has been developed by the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corp.
“As it is not possible to reconstruct the solar panels immediately and the people are staying in relief camps almost in darkness after sunset, we thought of giving them these lanterns,” said company managing director S.P. Gon Chowdhury.
Around 1,000 lanterns will be distributed on an emergency basis in the region from Tuesday, Gon Chowdhury told IANS.
“These lanterns are very handy. The illumination is seven times brighter than that of kerosene lanterns,” he said.
The lanterns can be recharged by just placing them under direct sunlight. “There is no need for solar panels for these lanterns,” Gon Chowdhury added.
West Bengal Power Development Corp, power utility CESC, West Bengal State Electricity Board, Durgapur Projects Ltd, Pollution Control Board and West Bengal State Council of Science and Technology will finance 100 lanterns each.
Cyclone Aila that hit the state May 25 has damaged solar power panels worth Rs.50 crore in the Sunderbans. Solar power is the only source of electricity in many of the remote islands in the mangrove delta.
- Aila damaged solar panels worth Rs.50 crore in Sundarbans - Jun 05, 2009
- Mamata announces sops for Sunderbans - Jan 31, 2012
- Land acquisition hampering embankment building in Sunderbans - Feb 29, 2012
- Bengal to acquire land for building river embankments - Jun 04, 2011
- Energy Awareness Yatra, East starts Jan 12 - Jan 07, 2011
- A Rs 12,000 crore project to develop the Sundarbans - Dec 16, 2009
- Battered but still balloting, Sundarbans shows way - Apr 28, 2011
- Children of Sunderbans still bear scars of Aila havoc - May 25, 2010
- In Sundarbans, weak embankments a major concern this monsoon - Apr 12, 2010
- Sunderbans out of wonders race - a lost opportunity? - Nov 23, 2011
- West Bengal seeks fund for Sundarbans - Feb 18, 2011
- West Bengal targets 115 mw solar power by 2013 - Dec 28, 2009
- 15 percent of Sunderbans may be submerged by 2020 - Jul 13, 2010
- Sundarbans tigers unlikely victims of cyclone Aila - May 28, 2009
- Pilgrims not to pay tax at fair: Mamata - Oct 20, 2011
Tags: aila, chowdhury, crore, cyclone, durgapur, emergency basis, energy development, green energy, kerosene lanterns, mangrove forests, pollution control board, relief camps, seven times, solar lanterns, solar panels, solar power panels, source of electricity, state electricity board, west bengal state, west bengal state electricity board
