Drinking water supply to 48 villages having less than 100 population in Ganjam district will be made through solar pumps by the end of this year.
While eight such projects have already been completed, the rest are under construction, officials said.
The government has decided to implement such projects in 1,730 select villages in the state, they said.
The water supply is being made by installing 1-hp motor and a water tank with capacity of 5,000 litre, said Executive Engineer, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS), Berhampur, Sitaram Panda.
Each project is being implemented through the state owned Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) with cost around Rs 4.50 lakh. The projects have been completed at four villages in Digapahandi block, three and one in Sheragada and Sanakhemundi blocks respectively, he said.
The villages without power supply or facing problems of low voltage are benefited through solar pump projects. The projects will come in handy at the time of prolonged power outage caused by natural disasters, said an RWSS engineer. The projects are also cost-effective, Panda said.
The government decided to implement such projects on an experimental basis after drinking water supply was disrupted post-Phailin last year.
The government is also planning to run higher capacity pump sets like 5hp ones in some villages after successfully implementation of low-capacity projects.
A 5hp solar pump set is experimentally installed at a village in Khurda district and engineers are studying its functioning, said the executive engineer.
