Day 150: 28 February ’22: All India Road Trip: Maharashtra: Shahapur
So far:
28 States, 5 Union Territories | Distance Covered: 23,960 km.
Previous stops: Pune, Panchgani, Arambol | Next stops: Mumbai, Aurangabad, Bijapur.
We drove to a few villages near Shahapur, Thane from Pune. Although, just couple of hours from the mega metro these tribal villages of Manache Amba, Shishavali and Nishet were remote because of the terrain and in fact get cutoff for 4-5 months during the monsoons.
The objective of the visit was to understand how Gram Oorja is changing lives of these villagers through electrification and mechanising irrigation using renewable energy solutions primarily solar.
Anshuman Lath, Director Gram Oorja took us around and we met the villagers who informed us how their lives have been transformed.
This was an invaluable experience for us as such learning’s would help us in implementing our community and rural tourism initiatives in the near future.
Gram Oorja provides sustainable and community driven energy solutions in remote regions to fulfill electricity, cooking fuel and water needs across 400 villages impacting 1.3 lakh villagers.
Gram Oorja, what it provides:
Solar Micro Grids: support hybrid solutions that can ensure year long uninterrupted supply. Hybrid systems also reduce battery requirements. It reduces the utilization of Kerosene and Firewood and helps in income generating activities like running flour mills , refrigerators etc. Children have more time to study and women work longer hours.
Solar Water Pumps : can supply water to locations at very high elevations and help overcome the problem of inaccessibility.
Biogas based cooking Projects : Community biogas plant based on locally available resources like cattle manure and agro- waste. Piped gas is provided to each household. Cooking experience is similar to LPG. Slurry, a bi-product of the biogas cooking grid procedure, can be used as a rich source of fertilizer.
Institution level Energy Systems : Energy support to schools, Public Health Centres in remote locations.
Consulting : With more than a decade of experience, it provides solutions to help solve the problems of organizations in this area.
