Story of Lighting up the lives through Solar Powering of Schools in Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh
Lohit is one of the farthest districts of the state of Arunachal Pradesh, facing the Eastern Himalayas, a very important district bordering China. The Digaru and Miju Mishmi tribes inhabit this region They are known to be very hardworking and vibrant . This area is surrounded by dense forest, hilly terrain and rains for over 9 months a year. The region has very poor infrastructural facilities that includes very poor connectivity in terms of approach roads, Communication, internet etc. along with unstable power supply .
To support the region, Art of Living with the support of the Lohit District administration and APEDA undertook the task of solar electrification, thanks to the financial support of Bharat Petroleum,Nine Government Primary schools from the circles of Sonpura, Tezu and Wakro in the district were solar powered to help children have unhindered power supply and facilitate a better learning experience.
This project was led by Ashok Harishchandra Project Manager SSRDP, who has been a pioneer in projects located in border district/ difficult terrains. Facing all odds like severe resource constraints in terms of procurement of material, Machinery, skilled labour to name a few, he executed it with precision. The nearest available source for any material or support was 160 kms away in Assam. The Covid situation placed several border restrictions across the state. In spite of this, Ashok managed the logistics to have all the materials sourced from all over India to Tezu within the given time frame.In an endeavor to develop local talent/ skills for solar installations, Ashok took up training of 16 youths of the region with theory and practical workshop. Of these, two trainees have met the desired acumen levels and supported the installation, which is one of the most modern Off grid Solar Installation with remote monitoring system. This is a very important step towards Atmanirbartha and youth empowerment. In the absence of transport drivers, Ashok managed transportation of all the materials along with his team and executed all the civil, mechanical, electrical and Instrumentation works hands-on
The project was commissioned tested and handed over well ahead of the schedule in spite of all the above mentioned challenges. Ashok has been instrumental in execution of solar Projects with similar complexities- details of which are as follows-
- Remote island of 4 village cluster near Mulukgaon, behind Dinjan Army camp, Dibrugarh,
Assam in 2016
- Rongsai and Kharkapara village, Lakhimpur block in Goalpara district, Assam in 2017
- Solar electrification of 113 schools of three block at Hardoi District, Uttar Pradesh in 2017
- One village in Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Rani block, Rural Kamrup, Guwahati, Assam in 2017
- 500 households at Tehri block, Uttarakhand in 2018-19
- 77KWp On-Grid solar rooftop project at Bangalore in 2019
- 400KWp Solar rooftop project at Border area of Amritsar, Punjab in 2019-20