KOCHI CORPORATION- TO IMPLEMENT SOLAR CITY PROGRAMME

KOCHI CORPORATION- TO IMPLEMENT SOLAR CITY PROGRAMME

If one is to go by the data available with ANERT (Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology), then the city corporation is clearly lagging behind the rest of the urban civic bodies in the country, in implementing the “Solar City Programme .While preparation of the  master plan for the implementation of this programme is in the final stage in other states, Kerala is yet to form the committees required for implementation. The programme promoted by the Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy, is being implemented in 60 chosen municipalities across the country. In Kerala, it was decided to introduce it in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi  corporation during the 11th five year plan Aneesh S Prasad, joint technical director, ANERT, revealed these facts during a presentation at the corporation council meeting held on Friday. After the debate the council gave its nod to the project. According to Aneesh, the planning and implementation will be decided by the stakeholders in the urban pockets concerned, including civic bodies, people's representatives and private partners.

The government needs to be approached only for the funding of the implementation. The centre will allot Rs 9.50 crore for a model solar city with matching grant to be funded by the state government and the local body concerned, whereas for a pilot city the grant component will be Rs 2.50 crore. The master plan has to be drawn up, for which the corporation will forecast the energy need for the next ten years. Apart from this, the council also approved the draft of the detailed project report for making Kochi a slum free city under the Rajiv Awaz Yojana (RAY) and the City Sanitation Plan (CSP).German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) presented a presentation on CSP. The programme promoted by the Ministry for Urban Development focuses on having an integrated and long-term planning for sustainable urban development. According to GIZ, there are 141 cities which are involved in the preparation of CSP. Out of the 26 cities or towns in Kerala, GIZ will prepare CSPs for six cities including Kochi. GIZ also highlighted that in a sanitation rating exercise conducted by the ministry in 2009-10, Kochi ranks 81 among the 423 cities chosen for the purpose.The draft report on (RAY) was presented for two colonies -Thuruthy and Udaya colonies, where the pilot project will be introduced. The detailed study for Udaya colony was conducted by Palakkad based Mythri and C-Earth conducted the study for Thuruthy colony.

If to go by the data available with (Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology) ANERT, then Kochi Corporation lags behind the rest of urban civic bodies across the country in implementing the Solar City Programme. While the preparation of the master plan for the implementation of the programme is in the final stage in other states, Kochi has not yet formed the committees required to implement the programme.The programme promoted by Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy and is being implemented in 60 chosen municipalities across the country. In Kerala, it was decided to introduce the programme in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Corporations during the 11th five year plan.

Aneesh S Prasad, Joint Technical Director of ANERT revealed these facts during a presentation at the corporation council meeting held on Friday. After the debates the council gave the nod to go ahead with the project.According to Aneesh, the planning and implementation of the Solar City Programme will be decided by the stakeholders in the urban pockets concerned including the civic bodies, industry, people's representatives, and private partners.The government needs to be approached only for the funding of the implementation. The Union government will allot Rs. 9.50 crore for a model solar city with matching grant to be found by the state government and the local body concerned, whereas for a pilot city the grant component will be Rs. 2.50 crore by the centre matched by the state government and local body.The master plan has to be drawn up for which the Corporation should forecast the energy need at least for the next ten years.

Apart from this, the council also approved the draft detailed project report for making Kochi a slum free city under the Rajiv Awaz Yojana (RAY) and the City Sanitation Plan (CSP) for Kochi.German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) presented a presentation on CSP. The programme promoted by the Ministry for Urban Development focuses on having an integrated and long-term planning for sustainable urban development.According to GIZ, there are 141 cities in which are involved in preparation of CSP. Out of the 26 cities or towns are in Kerala and GIZ will prepare CSPs for six cities including Kochi. In their presentation they have highlighted that in a sanitation rating exercise conducted by the ministry in 2009-10, Kochi ranks 81 among the 423 cities chosen for the purpose.The draft report on (RAY) was presented for two colonies -Thuruthy and Udaya colonies pilot project will be introduced. The detailed study for Udaya colony was conducted by Palakkad based Mythri and C-Earth conducted the study for Thuruthy colony.

                                                                               Prof. John Kurakar