For residents of Rajbander village on Elephanta Island, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is a blessing in disguise.
With support from Pune-based Science and Technology Park (STP), the authority is illuminating all households of the village using solar power with four lamps in each household.
They will also get a port for charging of mobile phones. Now, this village will not have to depend on limited hour diesel power supplied presently. This island, despite being close to Mumbai, is isolated by the sea and has been deprived of electricity for decades.
“The project is expected to be completed soon and once done, the village will benefit in a big way,” said MMRDA metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad. STP has got into technical collaboration with Australia-based company Solar Gem. The project will cost around Rs1 crore of which MMRDA will fund 10%, STP will fund 40% and the rest will be borne by the Australian government.
MMRDA says designing street poles was a challenge. Being a heritage site, poles had to be designed to suit the architecture and also had to be protected from monkeys. Famous Japanese designer Omura was hired for the job.
