Police Stations in the Andhra Pradesh State Going Green
India is blessed with abundant sunshine and solar power is expected to play a critical role in meeting the energy needs of the country in the long run.
Solar power projects can be setup in a much shorter time frame when compared to conventional power projects and the cost of solar power has become more economical today.
Andhra Pradesh state is poised for rapid industrial growth driven by infrastructure investments and has also been selected by the Ministry of Power as one of the pilot states for implementation of the 24X7 – Power for All (PFA) scheme.
Lathis and pistols will not be the only ‘power’ symbols at police stations in the Indian state Andhra Pradesh.
Image credit: The Hans India
Going one-step ahead, the AP police department had recently tied up with the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of AP (NREDCAP) to install stand alone solar power packs at 118 police stations in AP.
NREDCAP has a mission to promote, develop, encourage, popularize and carry out consultancy, field research and experiments for implementation of Non-conventional / Renewable energy projects and gadgets sponsored by both State and Central Governments.
At a time when conventional energy is becoming costlier and raising serious doubts about sustainability in future, recently, a police station in Nagapattinam has set an example by producing 6,000 KW of green power using solar panels in the two years since its inception.
Solar power is further poised to electrify select police stations with the State police department deciding to use this renewable energy.
With an eye on saving energy and ensuring that, day-to-day operations at police stations remain unaffected in case of power outages, as many as 14 police stations in the district lit up to solar energy, becoming fully solar-powered police stations on Friday, reports The Hans India.
The select police stations where this facility was put in place are: Yetapaka, Kunavaram, Chintur and Edugurallapalli in Chintur police subdivision, Y Ramavaram in Agency area and Tuni (general railway police) in sub-plan area and III Town Traffic Police Station, Prakash Nagar, Bommuru, Rajanagaram, Rajamahendravaram II Town, Dowleswaram, Kadiyam and Korukonda police stations under Rajamahendravaram urban police district.
Each police station would have 1.5 kilowatt solar panel in addition to inverter and batteries for the system to function.
Official sources told The Hans India that a sum of Rs 2.39 lakh was spent for putting in place the solar power plant in each police station.
The project received a 30 per cent subsidy from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and 20 per cent from New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP). (Source: The Hans India)
