power of sun: IGIMS

The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, has decided to install solar panels to make the campus energy efficient.

A proposal in this regard was approved at a meeting of the IGIMS body of governance on August 25, said medical superintendent S.K. Shahi on October 16.

At present, there is no government hospital in Patna that runs on a renewable source of energy. Only a private practitioner in Gaya has been working with solar panels at his clinic in the town.

The IGIMS medical superintendent, S.K. Shahi, said: “Energy department officials at the Centre visited the health hub around three months ago and suggested us to install solar panels. According to the plan, the Union government will provide us 30 per cent subsidy on the project. We would also try to get subsidy from the state government. Work on the project will start soon.”

The project that will cover just the hospital would cost around Rs 2.25 crore.

Shahi did not divulge the quantum of energy that the solar panels would generate at the health hub.

He added: “The solar panels would help make the institution energy efficient. At present, we have to spend around Rs 40-50 lakh on energy bills per month. Installing the solar panels would at least halve our energy bills.”

Dr Sunil Kumar Singh, a member of the board of governance of IGIMS, said: “This is a welcome initiative on the part of the IGIMS administration. In fact, all hospitals — government and private — should use non- conventional sources of energy. These are pollution free and cheaper than conventional power sources in the long run.”

Octogenarian surgeon Rudra Kumar Varma runs his establishment — Varma Nursing Home — in Gaya, around 110km south of Patna, on 100 and odd solar panels for around five years now. From ultrasound to X-ray machines, pathology lab to operating theatre, lights and fans to air-conditioner, 82-year-old Varma has gone strong on solar power. Around 27kW energy is being produced from the set-up.

His home, adjacent to the nursing home, is also partially dependant on solar panels.

Greenpeace has also made a documentary on how Varma was performing surgeries with help of energy produced from the solar panels.