MANIREDA Lighting up Manipur

Imphal, Sep 10 : The Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency (MANIREDA) has recently announced plans to light up nine Deputy Commissioner (DC) offices and five district hospitals in the state through 25 KW solar power plants by the end of next year, thereby carrying forward plans of both the Centre and state governments to further promote renewable energy in the northeast so as to meet the region's power requirements.

Scores of young students turned up at the Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas, organized under the aegis of MANIREDA, in support of renewable energy, here on August 20.

"If any establishment where power is a problem, we request them to come up to MANIREDA so that we can extend our help to the organization and solve their problem at least to a certain extent," said MANIREDA Director L Manglem.

The students participating in the rally emphasized that renewable energy sources are of great importance.

"It is good to participate in this rally, as renewable energy sources are of great importance to us. We should not waste our natural resources but instead should use them judiciously so that everyone can be benefited," said Sophia, a student.

MANIREDA is the nodal agency for popularizing the applications of various non-conventional and renewable source of energy in Manipur.

It has set up biogas plants, distributed solar cells, lighting systems, wind-solar hybrid energy system in villages of Manipur where grid connectivity has not reached.

MANIREDA has lighted up 165-gram panchayats, 200 villages, 73 police stations, distributed 5736 solar streetlights with a capacity of 444 Kilowatts, set up a 200 KW solar power plant at Moreh and off late has taken up a program to install 50,000 solar water heaters for domestic and commercial use.

This agency also trains villagers in preventive maintenance of these installations.

"We have contributed a lot to the development of the state where the grid connectivity cannot be reached. We have electrified more than 200 villages in the region and are working towards development of the state," said Manglem.

During the event, MANIREDA felicitated 110 meritorious students of the Board of Secondary Education of Manipur.

The speakers interacted with visitors and spoke about the advantages of using renewable sources in solving the global energy problem and preventing global warming.

Apart from MANIREDA, several other schemes like Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutkaran Yojna that aim at electrification of rural areas are also being implemented in the northeast.

Under the scheme, 22782 villages and 25623 hamlets have been electrified and nearly 23,16,282 rural households, now have access to electricity.