So what if it’s small?
Ranghil is perhaps the remotest village on the Indo-Myanmar border, in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. One can say it’s truly back of the beyond, a place where progress seemed to have passed by. But it’s also the place which has got into national focus- thanks to the efforts of Changlang’s Deputy Collector Mr Devansh Yadav who got a micro-solar unit installed here.
This is no small achievement. The village used to suffer from regular power cuts, mainly due to forested terrain and heavy rains in the region. But after the solar unit, not any more.
“After the successful launch of solar power unit in Vijaynagar, a village which does not even have conventional power, we thought this project can become a model for other villages which are located at the border or are really far off. As Ranghil is considered the remotest village at the border, we planned to implement it there as well,” Mr Devansh Yadav told Indian Masterminds.
LIFE IN RANGHIL
The village, housing just 16 homes, falls in the Manmao block of Changlang district. According to the 2011 Census, the village had a population of just 82 people out of which 43 were males and 39 females.
Speaking about the difficulties faced by the people in the village, Mr. Yadav said “The road connecting the village is quite old and the construction of the new road has not yet started. The village becomes inaccessible mostly during rainfall. As the village has just twelve to fourteen houses, immediate health facilities are also not available. People have to visit the nearest sub-centre for availing medical services, which is far from the village.”
“Ranghil has its own conventional power but hue to heavy forests and rainfall in Monsoon season, the village faces power cuts. It takes one to two weeks to fix the power cuts due to the geographical location of the village. Apart from this, migration is a big issue in such villages as people don’t have many facilities. This becomes a security issue for us as well,” Mr. Yadav told Indian Masterminds.
A BIGGER PLAN
Taking this into consideration, and with the support of the Government of India border development plan, the district administration decided to implement a micro solar unit to get rid of the power cuts the village was facing up till now.
Mr. Yadav said, “The solar unit will work in hybrid mode just like an inverter which automatically kicks in once the conventional power goes out. Initially, a three-kilo watt plant has been installed which will complete the requirement of the households in the village. With this, we will also plan to replicate this model in other border villages in the district. Around 300 to 350 watt per house requirement will be taken and according to that a solar unit will be installed in other villages.”
VSAT CONNECTIVITY ON THE CARDS
Funds for this project hav been used from the District Mineral Fund. The fund is raised in form of royalties during any mining activity in the area. A part of this royalty which has been collected, a part of it is given to the district administration for developmental work. Mr. Yadav said, “As per fund allocation, we will scale up the project in other villages at a single point of time.”
Apart from this, the district administration is also helping the state in the implementation of VSAT connectivity in such remote villages. Through this, the village will not only get power facility but also a good telecom connection for communication.
