Solar Power To Illuminate 140 Naxal-hit Villages In Chhattisgarh

27 November, Raipur

As many as 140 remote villages and hamlets in Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh will soon be illuminated with solar power. These areas have had no electricity supply even 68 years after the country’s independence.

The villages, mostly located in the dense forests of Bastar division and some in Sarguja division, will soon have solar power through a project being executed by the state-run Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) under the Remote Village Electrification Programme.

CREDA has provided power in around 1,700 villages/hamlets across the state since 2003, where there is no reach of conventional source of electricity. These villages fall under the Maoist-hit Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sarguja and Dantewada districts.

Number of electrified villages has increased to around 19,567 from 17,682 at the time of formation of the state in 2000.

Similarly, the number of electrified hamlets has gone up to around 25,168 from 10,375 during the same period. Solar power systems were installed in 102 villages between 2000 and 2003.