IIT-Jammu to help admn make all panchayats carbon neutral

Jammu, August 13

The J&K administration has roped in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu, for making over 4000 panchayats carbon neutral. The IIT-Jammu has already started the work on training the panchayat secretaries in conducting survey for carbon neutrality of villages. As many as 120 panchayat secretaries were trained recently under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) on the institution’s Jagti campus recently.

Training for officials

• The IIT-Jammu recently trained 120 panchayat secretaries under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan on its Jagti campus.
• Palli in Samba became the first carbon-neutral panchayat last year where the PM inaugurated a 500-KW solar plant.

The administration decided to make all panchayats carbon neutral after Palli village in Samba district became the first carbon-neutral panchayat last year when PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a 500-kilowatt solar plant in the village.

There are nearly 4,200 panchayats across the UT which will be made carbon neutral, though it may take years.

A household survey document has also been prepared to gather details of the villages which will be analysed by the IIT-Jammu. The survey includes details of plastic disposal in a day and year, water consumption, availability of computers, mobiles, number of domestic animals. It also includes details of energy consumption in form of electricity, kerosene, biogas and firewood. It also includes details of vehicles used by villagers.

Prof Uma Shankar of the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, IIT-Jammu, said, “With the active collaboration of the expertise available at the institution, green auditing of the villages can become a reality soon and lead to the adoption of practices to make the entire Jammu and Kashmir carbon neutral. This achievement could be an important milestone for the Union Territory, contributing to the UN’s sustainable development goals.” Sheetal Pandita, Deputy Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, informed that a dedicated portal would be developed for the submission of survey data from all panchayats.