The consultancy firm appointed by the Bureau of
Energy Efficiency, Government of India, to make Ludhiana a solar city
met officials of different departments, including the Municipal
Corporation, today.
According to information, officials from the
firm had given performa to officials of the PSEB, the MC, the PWD,
GLADA and others, asking them to reveal about the government buildings
under their jurisdiction.
Giving details,
officials said: “The Ministry of Renewable Sources, GoI, has
sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to develop
Ludhiana and
Amritsar
as solar cities. The consultancy firm has been asked to prepare master
plans for both the cities giving various details on how the project
should be undertaken and what changes should be made.”
Interestingly, the meeting turned out to be a
bitter pill for the consultancy firm as they failed to explain the
officials that how the project would be undertaken and what difference
it would make to the city.
A senior official said: "When Municipal
Commissioner AK Sinha questioned the officials about the plan chalked
out by them and their experience, the latter had no answer. The
consultancy firm officials took the plea that they were taking up a
similar project in Karnataka, too, and the work of preparing a master
plan for the project was on.” He added that a 15-member committee
formed for the surveillance the solar city project attended the
meeting.
The consultancy firm didn't have answer to the
question of the committee like which devices would be installed,
government buildings to be covered in the first phase etc. He added
that PEDA was helping the firm to undertake the project in the city.
Revealing about the meeting, Senior Deputy Mayor
Praveen Bansal said: "It's an ambitious project and once it starts, it
would help Ludhiana in many ways. The power expenditure would be
reduce and the plea of power cuts could be easily excused.”
