PATHANPARA VILLAGE GENERATES ITS OWN ELECTRICITY
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| Fr.Mathew Asariparambil, Pathanpara village, Kannur |
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If mountain does not come to Mohammed, Mohammed can always go to the mountain. If Electricity Board doesn’t bring power to Pathanpara village, Kannur even after 25 years of petitions, what prevents the locals from generating electricity using their own resources?
This
is exactly what the people of Pathanpara have done.
They are generating 5 KW power by harnessing the perennial flow
from a small stream. And then, using their own distribution system, this power is
made available to domestic and commercial users.
The
technical know-how for the venture was provided by 2 local youths” Anil
Kumar, who runs an electronic unit at Alakkode and his friend Samuel
Thomas. When their input
combined with the leadership of local priest, Fr.Mathew Asariparambil,
the venture was destined to succeed.
For earlier, the priest had organized the people to purchase a bus
for the village when the bus owners refused to operate their vehicles
along that route.
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households within 1 km radius of the project contributed Rs.6000 each.
The less well-off 17 families in the area contributed Rs.2000 each.
All the people agreed to provide free labour for 20 days.
Thus
from November 21 to December 24, the people worked day and night to make
their dream a reality. And on
the Christmas eve, as if to herald a new era of development, the sky of
Pathanpara lit up with the power generated by the people, for the people.
At
present the houses are permitted to consume 100W from 6.30 p.m. to 9.30
p.m. and 5.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. using energy-efficient CFL bulbs.
In
the 2nd phase of their project, the storage capacity of the
reservoir will be raised from 1 to 2 lakh litres.
The reservoir in the village
Courtesy: Nimmy George (text) and Jijo Mathew (photo), Karshakashree, April 1998
Contributed by: Administrator
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