The Times of India          12.08.2013

Municipal corporation houses solar dream for its buildings

CHANDIGARH: The municipal corporation (MC) has decided to tap the sun to light up some of its buildings, taking cue from environment department of the UT administration which has installed solar energy plants at over half a dozen government buildings in the city.

The civic body plans to equip 41 community centres and five buildings of water works with solar energy, hoping to trim its power bill. "We will start the work in a phased manner. Five to six community centres of the city will be covered in the first stage. We have 41 community centres and five water works buildings which are spacious enough for solar plants. Our offices too have space for this purpose," said S S Bida, chief engineer, MC. The proposal would be listed in the agenda to be discussed in the upcoming general house meeting of the MC, Bida added.

The development assumes significance as the ministry of new and renewable energy had identified Chandigarh as one of the 60 cities to be developed as a solar city as part of the national mission of solar energy. The underlying philosophy of the concept of solar city was to ensure that Chandigarh's energy demand was met in affordable and environmental-friendly manner.

Explaining the process, an MC official said, "We have started the work to prepare the financial estimates of each project. We will tie up with the UT administration to identify the company to purchase the equipment, guidance and other information, because they have successfully installed the equipment at their buildings."

Sources in the MC's finance wing said it has already set aside money in its annual budget -2013-14 for the purpose.