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• Power cripples. And, village panchayats reeling under massive power bills know it too well.Not surprisingly, panchayats here are set to go solar to reduce consumption and in the process manage its finances better. A state government programme to promote renewable energy in rural areas the district administration by establishing solar street lamps during the current financial year offers panchayats the opportunity to turn power-full.

• In the next five years, the government plans to have 1 lakh street lights in selected village panchayats across the state, said a senior officer in Tamil Nadu Energy Development Authority. The government has allotted 52.5 crore in the first year for the project. He said that 20,000 solar street lights would be installed in the village panchayats this year alone. For implementation of the programme the government has divided the state into four zones. Each zone will have 5,000 solar street lights. At least 500 lamps are likely to be installed in Coimbatore as part of the project.

• Each unit of solar lamp will cost Rs 30,000. TNEB will also support the project by providing the backup. If it rains continuously for a few days, it would become impossible to operate solar lamps. In such cases, the TNEB would provide power to the village. LED lamps would also be introduced to light up streets. LED lamps would reduce consumption of energy and the revenue of villages could fall by almost 1/10th, the official claimed.According to sources in the collectorate, many panchayats have large electricity bills. As on December 20, the panchayats owe the government Rs 248 lakh. The last month's figure shows that 124 panchayats have to pay Rs 398 lakh. He further said that the introduction of solar lamps would be a great step towards reducing power consumption and the cost of power.

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