Fakim Village in Kiphire becomes Nagaland’s first complete LED light village
KIPHIRE, MARCH 27 (MExN): On Easter Sunday, Fakim Village under Pungro Subdivision of Kiphire District became the first complete LED Light village in Nagaland.
The village is situated near the Indo-Myanmar border in the remote eastern part of Nagaland State, tucked away in the rugged mountains. While villages in this area are blessed with rich biodiversity, their remoteness has deprived them of basic infrastructure like roads and electricity.
The Nagaland State Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change took up an initiative with the help of the District Administration and the State Power Department in organising a programme during Easter Sunday service in the three fringe area villages of Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary.
They distributed eco friendly materials and disseminated information on the benefits of using eco-friendly technologies like LED bulbs and Solar lamps.
In Fakim village, Chumremo Odyuo, Deputy Commissioner Kiphire participated in the Easter Sunday church service and spoke about the advantages of adopting energy efficient and eco-friendly technology like Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs and Solar lamps. SDO (C) Kiphire Hq, Lankonsen impressed upon the villagers that Fakim village being the first complete LED powered village should spread the message of “good light” to others. The villagers submitted their traditional 100 watt tungsten bulbs to Deputy Commissioner and received 15 watt LED bulbs, making the village the first complete LED light village in the state.
The Village Council also made a resolution to ban use of tungsten light. Considering that the use of LED bulbs with solar lamp is going to save around 90% of electricity consumption for domestic lighting, the Village Council submitted a representation to Daniel Yimchunger, Junior Engineer, Electricity Department urging an equivalent concession on their community electricity bill.
Meanwhile, Lansothung Lotha, Range Forest Officer and John Yimchunger, Forest guard participated in the special Easter church services in Thanamir and Vongtsuvong villages respectively. Solar charged lamps were distributed to every household in these two villages.
Kamdi Hemant Bhaskar, Wildlife Warden, Kiphire Wildlife Division acknowledged Yatendra Agraval, Trustee of EcoSolutions, Mumbai for providing all the material and technical help. The NGO has so far distributed 7000 solar lamps in Nagaland State alone and is ready for expansion of the same along with Terafil (low cost water filters) technology for iron contaminated areas in other parts of Nagaland. He appealed to other government departments to replicate similar programmes.
LED bulbs are long lasting (20 years with 8 hrs/day use), energy efficient (80-90%), eco-friendly (no mercury, 100% recyclable), and can withstand roughest conditions, workable even during low and fluctuating voltage.
Likewise solar lights are a boon in rural areas. They extend working hours and are health friendly unlike kerosene lamp and reduce fire chances particularly in wooden houses of rural area. They save energy, reduce maintenance and help in controlling local pollution and climate change. In the initial stage, switching to LED and solar technology may cost more but within one year, the investment can be recovered since the power consumption will be reduced and the technology is more durable.
