'State mulls energy efficient pumps in agriculture'

State Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Friday said his department is contemplating on the use of energy efficient pumps in agriculture in various districts.

The state Power department has decided to tie up with the Centre so that the people involved in agriculture can be helped through a new scheme. The main purpose of the new project is to help the farmers to procure pumps which are energy efficient.

The minister on Friday inaugurated "Energy Conservation Building Code" organised by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency at a city hotel. The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched by the Ministry of Power in May 2007, as the first step towards promoting energy efficiency in the building sector. The ECBC started in Bengal in the year 2016. One of the purposes of the ECBC is to conserve energy, reducing the level of carbon emission, stressing on the development of alternative energy resources. Various issues were discussed in the programme including how to stress on the implementation of energy conservation and how to cut down the emission of carbon.

Chattopadhyay said the ECBC is built by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and it's the outcome of the Energy Conservation Act 2001. It encourages the use of LED which is a part of the energy conservation programme.

It may be mentioned that the state Power department has taken up a series of new initiatives to develop alternative energy resources. Steps have been taken to install solar panels on rooftops of various government buildings, schools and colleges.