Solar Street Light Project
Kaiwara was initially a village in the Chintamani district of Karnataka, before currently attaining the status of a town. It has historically been attributed to a famous saint who preached in the village. The town was linked to the highway by a single road that stretches a distance of 2.2 kms. While the project was in its stages of inception in 2015, there were no streetlights, despite there being essential services like a BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) office, a school, PU college, and a hospital along this road. Recognizing the need for working electricity in the area, illuminating this road sustainably became the Deepam Initiative’s first project. Fundraisers, food festivals, and waste to wealth events accompanied by generous contributions from donors generated a fund of Rs. 26 lakhs that was put toward the project. The 70 poles – with 2 lamps a piece – that were installed were powered by a solar panel with an independent battery on each pole. This guaranteed light from dusk to dawn for two days, from just one day of sunlight. The resulting system was self-sufficient and independent of the grid.