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Solar technology
comes to Chitral
Chitral --Solar energy is one of the most talked about
subjects in drawing room gossips or TV shows, but practically
hardly any thing has been done about it.
In Chitral when power crisis was at its peak the District
Coordination Officer had assured angry protesters that
CIADP, a high brow, unproven, multi million dollar guzzling NGO,
is soon going to launch Solar energy projects in Chitral but it
remains to be seen.
It was however a pleasant surprise to see an individual
taking the initiative and installing solar power equipment at
his own expense. Capt Sirajul Mulk a hotelier and entrepreneur
took the first step with installing solar water heaters at his
hotel in Chitral town.
When asked why he went for solar power when he already possessed
a private hydel power station, he said solar power is clean and
maintenance free and Chitral has abundance of sunlight waiting
to be utilized. He said he would use a combination of solar and
wind power and prove to the people that we can rid ourselves of
WAPDA power source which besides being too expensive is
never there when you need it most. ..--(CN
report, 10 Oct 10)
Comment 1
A good initiative and an appreciable effort, but to be
realistic, isn't it like choosing a cart instead of a car
because in such an area where there is abundant water for hydel
power we don't need to look for such an expensive alternative.
My request to Capt Siraj is to broaden his private hydel
project to other areas as well, especially the remote areas. The
people need it and I'm sure people will definitely, support him
too.--Yasir Ali, Karsaz Karachi, 12 Oct,
10
Comment
2
This is with
reference to the news item regarding on solar technology . No
doubt there is a enormous potential of hydro power in Chitral
and the same can be utilized for the
power generation for domestic as well as to meet the
national power requirements, but the main problem is to tap
these resources in a sustainable and economical way, and solar
energy/technology can be one of the possible solution of the
power shortage problem in Chitral.
The
concept of using sun as an energy source is not new; even during
ancient times the Greeks, the Chinese and the Native Americans
were using the sun to warm their homes and keep them disease
free. According to a recent research the amount of energy the
sun sends towards our planet is 35,000 times more than what we
currently produce and consume. Some part of this energy better
known as
solar radiation is reflected back into space but a lot of
it is absorbed by the atmosphere and other elements surrounding
the inner atmosphere.
Solar energy
can be easily harnessed for practical purposes such as heating
homes, lighting
bulbs and many other purposes. And I consider that this
is the best way out to lessen the level of
climate change/global warming as Electricity is generated
indirectly too by first generating heat from
solar energy and then using the steam produced in the
process to run
power generators. Here too, since no fossil fuels are
being burned to produce heat, the resultant energy is 100%
eco-friendly and very good for the susceptible areas where
global warming/
climate change has badly affected the natural glaciers
and other ecosystem.
I appreciate
this good initiative and a significant effort of Capt: Siraj ul
Mulik and I hope that other people will further this idea at
their level and will promote this environmental friendly
initiative in Chitral. --Ajaz Ahmad Forest
department, Chitral, 13 Oct 10.
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