New Delhi: In the sleepy village of Sirohi, 60 kms from Delhi, Gauri Agarwal has lit up the lives of the villagers in less than six months. Gauri who quit her job as an investment banker decided to adopt the village. Aided by the students of the National Power Training Institute, Bechtel Corporation and Engineers without Borders, Gauri launched project to bring solar power to 366 houses in Sirohi. Jamna Bai has lived in this village all her life but its the presence of solar lamps in her house that has changed the very way she and her family live. Now we can do so much by the light of lamps. We can cook, children can study and we can finish other household work. We are so happy that all this is now possible, she said. Gauri is quick to point out that whats happening here is not charity. Every house has to pay a nominal amount of Rs 70 every month. The money is collected by the Village Energy Committee. The Committee will take over once Gauri and her organisation exit. But a lot more needs to be achieved before that. Gauri said, Before we started no one knew about Sirohi and we wanted to change that, and next we will focus on bringing education, sanitation and waste management. At the end of the day the idea is to put a village like Sirohi on the map. For the residents of Sirohi, something as simple as turning a light bulb on when it gets dark is now possible. Familes can get together at night, children can study and all this because one person thought let there be light. -ibnlive
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 06:50:02 +0000
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