M SIVA HARI NAIK
KURNOOL: Lives will soon brighten up for the remote hill villages tucked in the folds of Nallamala forest as the Vilage Energy Security Programme (VESP) will take up electrification works there.
Using Pongamia seeds as fuel, the officials of the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Power Company Limited (APTRIPCO) are planning to generate power in the areas under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Srisailam.
The power so generated will be used for both domestic lighting and irrigational needs. The Winrock International Litmited, appointed by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (UMNRE) as a consultant, has initially indentified Bommalapuram in Dornala mandal, Biligondapenta and Veerabhadrapuram in Yerragondapalem mandal of Prakasam district for the implementation of the project.
This initiative comes close on the heals of the Union Ministry for Tribal Welfare’s endeavour to take up electrification of four tribal villages through underground cable system. The VSEP was launched in the three villages after the AP Southern Power Distribution Company Limited threw up its hands as laying a conventional grid would be nothing short of a logistic nightmare.
According to sources, at a recent meeting of the Non Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP) on the VESP, the consultant has recommended that the project was financially viable and that 4-5 kg of Pongamia seeds, available at Rs 7 a kg, were needed to produce a litre of bio-diesel.
The UMNRE director has indicated that the seeds can be procured on rate contract basis through the Girijana Co- Operative Corporation (GCC), which will ensure an assured supply of seeds confirming to the required quality specifications.
Srisailam ITDA project officer E Ravindra Babu said that 90 percent of the project cost will be in the form of subsidy from the UMNRE and the remainder will be borne by the AP TRIPCO, the implementing agency for the project.