In a push to the plans of creating ‘Green Energy Stations’, the South Western Railway has selected 30 stations, including the infamous Penukonda where 25 people were killed in a rail collision in May, to install solar power lights. These stations will rely solely on these solar powered lights for their lighting purpose. The railway ministry, in this year’s railway budget, had announced plans to bring in several “green initiatives” in the Railways.
“The selected stations are in remote places and face frequent and long power cuts. In the next six months, these stations will completely depend on solar power for their lighting needs,” said a senior official from the Railway division. Some of the stations that will be included in the project are: Devanahalli, Chikballapur, Peryanagathunai, Kelamangalam, Srirangapatna, Dodballapur, Yelahanka, Byatrayanahalli, Malur and Kengeri. The project will start from July-end and will be completed by December. The initial investment for the entire project is around Rs 10 crore. As part of the initiative, the railway division will use only solar-based emergency lighting systems at level-crossing gates.
“This will be on trial. If it proves successful, it will be implemented in other areas,” the officer said. Bengaluru-Jolarpet, Bengaluru-Dharmavaram and Bengaluru-Tumkur sections have been selected for the pilot project.
The budget has proposed to set up 72 mw-capacity windmill plants in the state, besides Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. There is a proposal to introduce mobile emission test cars to measure pollution levels of diesel locomotives. This will help research efforts in introducing environment-friendly practices, the officer said.