IMPHAL, March 7: The Micro Hydel Power Project at Pushing village is providing electricity to more than 50 households and has the potential to contain deforestation in the Hills.
This was stated by MANIREDA director L Manglem in the inauguration function of the Micro Hydel Project at Ukhrul in which he handed over the documents of the hydel project to the headman of the Pushing village. The project will be operated and maintained by the villagers from Friday onwards.
“It was the dream project of MANIREDA and the project is going to be maintained by Pushing villagers themselves. There are six micro-hydel projects being set up in different places under MANIREDA; four is functioning successfully including the one in Pushing but unfortunately two projects at Chadong and Gelong village is still malfunctioning,” said the director of MANIREDA.
L Manglem said that successfully running the water mill needed public participation and the control of the machinery by the villagers.
“The budget of MANIREDA is less than that of one unit of PWD and we worked with an acute estimate cost of 25, 57,000 for the project.”
He said that power was being enjoying by the villages but we much conserve enough source of water for the project. So we have to control deforestation in the hills where water is collected. For Micro hydel projects water is very much necessary.
Urging the villagers to maintain the machines properly for it to last long, he said that if the project functions smoothly a similar project of solar energy plan will be provides after the concerned district commissioner gives the approval for the project in second phase.
Pushing Village chief AS Yanglung said that Pushing was in the dark world for the last 15 years. In fifteen years, only 200 days were supplied electricity and the rest of days were spent in darkness. So, we didn’t believe in the new project of the government but this power project has removed the village from the world of darkness.
The village is located about 60 Km off Ukhrul HQ and has 180 households with a population of 1800. We got 50 percent of the village electrified by MANIREDA. And we appeal MANIREDA to initiate another project for the remaining 50 percent of the villagers. The village has restricted the cutting down of trees in their casement area of the Hills, the headman said.
The project was taken up under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Government of India scheme for Development/Up-gradation of Water Mills. It was completed in January 18 the past year and was commissioning the same day. It was kept in a trial run for about 13 months. The unit generated as per energy metre reading recorded 2422 kwh till today.
The project was taken up in association with Village Energy Committee (VEC) Pushung.