Team Herald
PANJIM: Though Goa achieved 100 per cent electrification in 2015, along with another 14 States/union territories, the Electricity Department on Monday said it is in the process of electrifying a small cluster of houses through solar power in areas where laying cables in not feasible.
As per data available with the department, 88 houses – 10 in the North and 78 in the South – still remain to be electrified.
“Goa achieved 100 per cent electrification in 2015, all the villages across the State have access to electricity except for a few clusters of house which fall in the forest area where laying of cables is not feasible. We are in the process of providing solar power to these houses,” Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar said.
The department also said that while it is possible to lay cables in some houses, getting a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Forest Department becomes difficult, while taking electricity to some houses becomes a costly affair.
Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) Neelkanth Reddy said, “According to our data there are about 88 houses which fall in the forest area where laying of cables is not feasible or there is a problem in getting a NOC from forest. Just three days back we gave solar panels to some houses on a trial basis.”
As per central norms, if two public utilities in a village are electrified and 10 per cent of the houses are given power connections, that village can be declared as completely electrified.
