Migrant labourers here get uninterrupted power supply

27 schoolchildren get light to study at night from solar lamps

When unscheduled power cuts have become the order of the day in the City, around 75 sheds at Meenakaliya in Panambur, occupied by migrant workers enjoy uninterrupted power supply during the night.

An initiative of Subrahmanya P Aithal, who owns these sheds, has also helped the children of the worker continue their studies while the parents can now stop spending money on the purchase of kerosene to burn the lamps during the night.

The SELCO Solar Light Private Ltd, a unit of SELCO India, set up its first mini solar power grid project two years ago to supply power to migrant workers who eke out their living by working on road construction and fishing activities in the region.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Fathima, a native of Badami, who is studying in a school nearby, said that the uninterrupted power supply from 6 pm to 7 am is very helpful to them.

“We are using two lights and a fan, along with the mobile charger. My brothers, younger sister and I live here while our parents are at the native place. I wake up at 4 am and prepare the breakfast and lunch. Without the solar power, we had to depend on kerosene lamps for reading and other household chores. Even during monsoon, we get continuous power supply now,” she explained.

As the sheds are situated on a private property and do not have door numbers, it is a difficult process to get power connection from the Mescom. The SELCO had to approach the land owner and convince him to allow them to set up a solar power grid in his house to supply power to the sheds.

Explaining the working of the system that has been set up, Subrahmanya P Aithal, the owner, said, “Initially, I was apprehensive of the solar power project. I visited Shivamogga and Theerthahalli and studied the functioning of the solar panels during rainy season and then agreed to install the mini solar grid. The inverter can be used for three days for supply power.”

Aithal concurred that the uninterrupted power supply has become a boon for the residents. “There are 27 schoolchildren residing in these sheds, who have to study at night. There are 22 women in these sheds who wake up at 2 am to prepare breakfast and lunch before venturing out for fishing,” he said.

Renuka, another native of Badami, who stays here, said, “Before we were given the solar power connection, we had to get kerosene from our native places to ward off the darkness. Even kerosene is also not available in the market and is expensive.”

The project cost Rs 4.50 lakh, of which, a nationalised bank released a Rs 4.14-lakh loan to the land owner, while he bore the balance. He collects Rs 160 as monthly electricity charge from the residents of sheds having single lights and Rs 300 a month from those with more than one light and using fans or television.

“I have to repay the loan in instalment every month. The money collected from these migrant labourers help me do so. After repaying the loan fully, I will collect 50 per cent of the electricity charges that I now collect from these migrant workers, for the maintenance of the battery and panels,” he said.

“The mini solar grid with four solar panels or modules of 300 watts each and eight batteries of 200 ampere hour (Ah) capacity each was set up in the house of Aithal,” said consultant for SELCO N A Lakshminarayana Rao.

“All the houses were fixed with LED lights of three-watt capacity. Some sheds have two lights and some even have a fan. In fact, one shed had even a television. However, the labourer who was staying there had left for his native place,” he added.