Kolkata: The state Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) department is mulling the idea of using solar power to run the air-conditioning system of some community halls and offices maintained by the state government in New Town under the Green City Mission.
"We have already held preliminary talks with a Japanese company on the feasibility of the project. We will be holding a meeting next month to explore whether we could have one or two community halls, offices, conference halls, etc. air-conditioned through the use of solar power," a senior official of the state IT&E department said.
It may be mentioned that state Additional Chief Secretary, IT&E, Debashis Sen recently paid a visit to the solar-powered temperature-controlled warehouse at Tapasi Malik Krishak Bazaar in Singur that was inaugurated by state IT minister Amit Mitra on January 21.
The warehouse, developed by 92-year-old Japanese warehousing-cum-transportation logistics company Kawasaki Rikuso Transportation (KRT) that has its headquarters in Tokyo, has commissioned the air-conditioning facilities at the warehouse. "There are two rooms for keeping fruits and vegetables fresh and the temperature inside the two rooms hover around 19 degree Celsius, with wall-mounted digital thermometers registering the temperature. No electric power from the grid is being used," the IT department official said.
Sen has already spoken with the Principal Secretary of state Agriculture Marketing department Rajesh Sinha and has already reached out to officials of KRT, which is expected to come and have talks with the IT department in mid-March.
"A new community centre is coming up in New Town. We are mulling to use this technology in the proposed centre to begin with. The capital cost for the project will also be discussed in the meeting," the official said. Interestingly, the facilities put up at the warehouse also include a magnetic rat-trap to ensure that rodents do not feast on the fruits and vegetables stored in the warehouse, where they remain fresh for six to seven days. The KRT facility at Singur is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).