EMN
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 22
A three-day workshop on ‘Hydroger Installation and Maintenance’ has been successfully conducted by Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD), culminating on August 13 at the Centre for Excellence in Renewable Energy Systems Studies (CERES), Dimapur.
Ayong Chang, Member, Project Operations Unit said, Hydrogers are small portable machines which 4-5 persons can carry and require small streams or rivers to power the machines making them ideal for villages and other populated areas in the hills which have an adequate water source. NEPeD is now indigenously manufacturing the ‘Hydroger’ at its research and production facility called CERES in Dimapur.
The workshop was specially conducted for the 5-member delegation from Meghalaya who were trained in identifying sites having potential for Hydroger installation, installation fundamentals, Hydroger maintenance and general repairs, etc, by Yanger Imchen, Manager, NMTTC and Co-ordinator, NEPeD. The delegates consisted of members from the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) and the State Council of Science, Technology and Environment, Govt. of Meghalaya (SCSTEM).
Besides these, Ayong Chang, Member, Project Operations Unit (POU), NEPeD, trained the delegates on issues associated with Hydroger installation like economic upliftment arising out of additional productive time through lighting and energy, need for conservation awareness to protect the catchment areas in particular, sanitation to improve health, Women empowerment through setting up of an Energy Committee in every beneficiary village wherein a minimum of 2 women representatives is required, etc. S. L. Mawphlang, Asst. programme officer, SCSTEM, said that Meghalaya having similar topography to that of Nagaland along with the availability of water sources to power the Hydrogers, has immense potential for ‘replicating’ what NEPeD has achieved and said that the delegation would now be able to confidently undertake installation and repairs of the machines within their respective places.
Fullmoon Lyndog Kynshi, Programme Associate, MBDA, appreciated the workshop and said that they had heard of Hydrogers and NEPeD from a village called ‘Sakhri’ in Meghalaya where NEPeD has already installed a Hydroger and are now keen on being able to install and carry out maintenance works on their own, without having to depend on NEPeD team members every time.
It may be mentioned that apart from Nagaland, NEPeD has successfully installed the Hydrogers in neighbouring states like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Mizoram, besides Orissa.
