Commissioner Secretary Science & Technology, Saurabh Bhagat, today chaired a meeting at Civil Secretariat here to discuss strategy regarding saturation of Solar Rooftop on Government Buildings of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was attended by Executive Director, NHPC, Managing Director, JPDCL, Managing Director, KPDCL, Managing Director, JKSPDC, CEO, JAKEDA, Managing Director, Regional Electrification Corporation J&K, Nodal Officers nominated by the Administrative Departments and other senior officers.
Emphasizing the importance of maximizing adoption and utilisation of solar energy in the Union Territory, the Commissioner Secretary said that all the allied departments and agencies should provide full support in successful implementation of this flagship programme. He said that all the departments have to be fully integrated into this initiative and explore the possibilities besides assessing the feasibility and potential of each government building.
He further said that the solar energy, being both clean and cost-effective, aligns perfectly with J&K's energy goals. He asked the officers to immediately start survey of central government buildings in both the divisions and share the data with the NHPC. He further asked them to identify all the buildings fit for installation of the solar rooftops.
It was informed in the meeting that it is envisaged that 100% government buildings in the UT are to be covered under the rooftop Solar Programme. Regarding the number of government buildings department wise, it was apprised that the department has identified 10 large departments. Among them education department has 14000 buildings followed by Rural Development Department, Home, Health & Medical Education, PDD Jal Shakti, Social Welfare Tourism and Higher education.
Addressing the nodal officers of the respective departments, the Commissioner Secretary said that they should frame a clear roadmap and action plan regarding adoption of the system to ensure implementation of the scheme as per its guidelines. He asked each of the department to provide the information like list of their buildings along with sanctioned connected load, shadow free rooftop space, geo-coordinates and other relevant details about such structures here. The Commissioner Secretary said that all the newly constructed government buildings should have mandatory solar rooftops and the same should reflect in the DPRs.