Mumbai (The Hindu): The Amasebail gram panchayat (GP) will be declared the first solar GP in Udupi district on April 27.

Addressing presspersons here recently, president of the Amasebail Charitable Trust A.G. Kodgi said that the Amasebail GP comprised three villages — Amasebail, Rattady, and Machattu — which have 1,872 houses.

While 1,000 houses have been provided with four solar lamps, 497 houses have been provided with two solar lamps. The remaining 375 houses already had solar lamps owing to previous schemes. The cost of installing two solar lamps was ?9,900, while it was ?16,000 for four lamps. The beneficiaries had to pay ?3,000 for two lamps, while they had to pay ?6,000 for four solar lamps. In the case of Koraga community beneficiaries, the GP bore the amount of ?3,000 per beneficiary; while in the case of other SCs,STs beneficiaries, it had borne ?2,000 per beneficiary for installation of lamps. The total cost of installing solar lamps in these 1,497 houses was ?2.13 crore.

The SELCO Solar Light Private Ltd., selected through e-Tender, was entrusted the work of installing the solar lamps.

As per the tender conditions, the company had given guarantee of five years for the solar lamps, undertake half-yearly maintenance and replace faulty lamps.

The installation of solar lamps to 1,497 houses, which was taken up on May 2016, has been completed in three phases. Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, will make the declaration at a function in Amasebail on April 27. “We do not think any other GP has made such an achievement in the State,” he said, Mr. Kodgi said.