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What is the news?
Odisha plans to make Konark a 100% solar town and place it among India’s first few zero emission cities or towns.
To implement this plan, the Government of India in 2020 launched a scheme for solarisation of Konark Sun Temple and Konark town in Odisha.
What is Konark Sun Temple?
How is solarisation of Konark Sun Temple a significant step?
The shifting from grid to solar energy will help reduce the electricity consumption of the Konark Sun Temple.
Moreover, the financial benefit from solar energy will help them to divert spending on other developmental work of the temple.
What are the challenges in implementing this plan?
Konark is situated very close to the Bay of Bengal and has faced cyclones and other natural disasters. Shifting to a clean energy source is a good idea, but there are doubts about its sustainability and feasibility.
Besides this, land acquisition is another major challenge in setting up solar power plants. While coastal areas are cyclone-prone, some parts of Odisha have dense forests, whereas land is expensive in densely-populated areas.
Source: This post is based on the article “Konark will now light up its Sun Temple with solar energy” published in Down To Earth on 5th Mar 2022.
