Asamannoor panchayat is a beehive of activity these days. It’s in a race to be declared as the first civic body in Ernakulam district to be totally solar-dependent.
The Rs 9.87 lakh project will soon be commissioned, making Asamannoor the second solar-friendly panchayat in the state.
Twenty solar panels of 250 watts each will give an electric output of five kg. Panchayat president N.M. Salim says once the panels start working, the panchayat can save on electricity bills worth Rs 5 lakh a year. Besides, the excess power can be sold to all other shops and holdings within the panchayat complex and it will fetch the civic body Rs 5 lakh. The project has been a cost-sharing venture with the panchayat spending Rs 4.87 lakh and the government chipping in with Rs 5 lakh.
Asamannoor panchayat’s achievements have not been small. With big-time aspirations, the civic body was fully computerized recently. The paper-less panchayat’s e-payment portal went online on last April. This is but one step in its march towards tech advancement, says the president.
The civic body has set apart Rs 6.377 crore for the current year’s development activities. It has already initiated a project for total potable water supply. As part of this, all public taps will be sealed. All consumers will be included in a beneficiary scheme and all homes will be given water connection with a Rs 5,000 subsidy scheme. Besides this, the Ambedkar, Panichayam, Asamannoor, Muttathumukal and Poomala lift irrigation systems will soon be made fully functional.
Scheduled caste families will be given Rs 75,000 for house maintenance. The panchayat has also decided to grant Kudambasree workers cows and poultry on subsidy.
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