Punsari village in Sabarkantha of Ahmedabad, India is going to launch an eco-friendly electricity generation with a funding assistance of Rs 40 lakh from Gujarat government.
The villagers will generate electricity from cow dung and waste generated in households and farms. By December the bio-electricity plant will be ready to power streetlights in addition to lighting up 250 households.
Garbage collection will be carried out through e-rickshaws hired by the gram panchayat.
In Delhi, a meeting on Adarsh Gram Yojna was held recently. The Punsari was showcased as a model village and all participants from various gram panchayats and government agencies from across the country were asked to repeat the example of that Punsari has set. Now this will be taken to next level by eco-electric generation capacity, said Himanshu Patel, sarpanch, Punsari.
In addition, the state government has provided Rs 22 lakh worth of 450 LED lights for street lighting purposes. This move has brought down the village’s electric bill from Rs 55,000 every two months to Rs 22,000.
On the other hand, Punsari has been declared as a model village. A reverse osmosis plant in the village provides clean drinking water at a nominal cost of Rs 4 for a 20-litre drinking water can. An indepenent bus service, a Wi-Fi tower providing 24-hour free Internet connectivity, water-proof public speakers and solar-powered lamps are other additional facilities.
They make optimal use of the government schemes. Recently, the village has received good governance awards from both the central and state governments.