Schools in Bikaner, which have don’t have a supply of electricity, will soon be illuminated with power fetched through solar panels. The district administration in a recent review meeting of electrification took this decision to give schools situated at distant locations in rural areas ‘renewable power’.
Bikaner DISCOM officials informed that there are many schools and government offices that cannot avail power connection.
Bikaner is situated in the middle of Thar desert and has a hot semi-arid climate with extreme temperatures. In summers, the temperature exceeds 45 degrees Celsius and dips below freezing point in winters. This drew the attention of the district collector Anil Gupta, who in a recent meeting directed the DISCOM and REEC (Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation) officials to sanction solar panels to the schools without electricity.
“There are certain areas that are not covered in the power network. Therefore solar panels will be sanctioned to these areas so the schools there get power. As per the plan, the education department has to bear the expenditure,” said Hawa Singh, superintendent engineer, Bikaner DISCOM.