Manipal :
Urban Health Centre in Malpe, about 10 kilometres from here, became a solar powered clinic on Wednesday. Srinivas Prasad, CEO Philips Innovation campus, Bengaluru inaugurated the solar facility provided by Philips at a simple function. It is a first of its kind in India. Started in 1967 by Dr T M A Pai, the Centre provides maternal and child health services and also takes care of general ailments of people in the region.
The centre under administrative care of department of community medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal recently started screening activities for oral, breast and cervix cancers with support from Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. With ever-increasing work at the clinic, need for uninterrupted power supply became imperative.
The solar energy which became operational on Wednesday will greatly help to improve patient care.
In view of urgency and importance of having uninterrupted power in the clinic, Manipal University and Philips signed a memorandum of understanding for the pilot project. The Centre will henceforth not depend on electricity to run appliances. This innovation by Philips is a centralized solar DC grid, which reduces dependency on grid power and contributes towards green energy. The solar solution provided in Malpe Clinic consists of 6 KWp solar panels.
It is expected to generate on an average nearly 12 units per day, and the consumption of the Malpe clinic is around 8 units per day presently. Srinivas Prasad, a former Karnataka Ranji Trophy player said, “We are associated with Manipal University for over a decade now. So we decided to do this project with the University first. This initiative can serve as a model solution which can be replicated in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and rural areas across the country.”
Pramod Madhwaraj, Udupi MLA said he was extremely happy that Philips has decided to have the pilot project in his constituency. He urged Prasad to provide solar facilities to entire state. Even Dr Vinod Bhat, Pro Vice-Chancellor urged Philips CEO to use Technology to improve villages across India, “Because we cannot depend electricity alone to fulfill the needs,” he said. Dr Veena Kamath, head of department of community medicine welcomed the gathering.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / by Jaideep Shenoy, TNN / January 22nd, 2015