Palli Panchayat becomes first Indian panchayat to be carbon neutral

About Palli panchayat

Palli Gram Panchayat is located in Bari Brahamana Tahsil of Samba District in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is located at 32°37'01.1"N74°53'29.6"E longitude and latitude. The nearest town is Bari Brahmana, which is about 3 kilometres away from Palli.The Gram Panchayat has 2 revenue villages known asBassiand Khurd. There are724 household shaving a population of 3700, out of which male population is 1,918 and female population is 1,782. Out of which SC Population is 1206 and ST Population is 50.

The Gram Panchayat covers an area of 330 hectares area - 1017 ha cultivated land, 850 ha irrigated land and 150 ha un-irrigated land. 

Implementation details

Panchayat prepared a climate resilient plan focusing on climate change adaptation efforts with objective to reduce the effects of climate change.The main effort has been the implementation of climate- resilient infrastructure and agriculture activities. In the Gram Sabha, villagers have been sensitised about the climate change mitigation factors like reducing energy consumption, usage of fossil fuels, abandoning of plastics, use of non-renewable system in the building and also to promote measures like plantation, adoption of good agricultural practices like drip irrigation, water conservation measures and conservation of wet lands to maintain balance of ecosystem.

In this connection, GP has passed a resolution to use LED lights electric appliances, sustainable fuel for cooking in all households, schools, Anganwadi Centres. BioGas and Solar System has been installed in schools and Anganwadi Centres. 27 Solar lights have already been installed in prominent and busy areas of the Panchayat. Electric bus service by the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) has been commenced from the Gram Panchayat to Jammu City.

On 24th April 2022, on the occasion of “Panchayati Raj Diwas”, a 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant was completed in a record time and was inaugurated  under the Gram Urja Swaraj Programme. The 500 Kilowatt Solar Plant was installed on a total area of 6,408 square metres and completed in a record time of 20 days. It will provide clean electricity and light to 340 houses in the Panchayat. The financial implication of this initiative is Rs 2.75 crore. The electricity generated will be distributed to the village, having a daily requirement of about 2,000 units through the local grid power station. Central Electronics Limited (CEL), a PSE under the Union Ministry of Science & Technology had taken the responsibility of the installation of the solar plant.

Preservation of environment is the one of the main objectives of the Panchayat. The Panchayat has been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) free and there is well maintained community sanitation centers with the regular water supply connections. Out of the five water bodies in the Panchayat, one of the water body has been renovated with people participation and others are planned to be renovated one after the other.

Source : Ministry of Panchayati Raj