E-Paper
Chandigarh: Soon, rooftop solar plants mandatory on plots above 250 square yards
The Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST) had moved a proposal regarding this to the secretary, urban planning, who has approved it and forwarded the file to the UT estate office for notification.
The UT administration will soon make it mandatory for owners of residential properties measuring 250 square yards or more to install solar plants on their rooftops, a move that will affect nearly 4,500 houses in the city. Previously, the mandate applied only to plots measuring 500 square yards or more.
The Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST) had moved a proposal regarding this to the secretary, urban planning, who has approved it and forwarded the file to the UT estate office for notification.
The installation will be carried out under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana scheme, which provides incentives, subsidies and low-interest loans to encourage property owners to switch to solar power.
A senior CREST official said, “We have received the approval from the urban planning department and are expecting a notification from the UT estate office soon. Unlike the case of plots above 500 square yards, this time, we are going with a more flexible criteria -- property owners will have discretion over the size of installation. Due to smaller rooftop areas, residents can choose panel sizes based on the available space.”
Not many takers among 500 square yard owners
The UT had in September last year issued notices to 4,541 owners of plots measuring 500 square yards and above to install solar plants on their rooftops by November 6 or face property resumption (attachment). But despite this, only 1,000 have installed rooftop solar panels.
The UT estate office has also slowed down action against defaulters after the matter reached the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC), following which it had to submit an undertaking that it will refrain from coercive measures.
A city-based lawyer had challenged the Chandigarh administration’s notice before the HC, claiming that the notices are illegal, without any legal sanction and authority. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 7.
Even Union minister of power, housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar had flayed the UT over the plan to resume properties over non-installation of rooftop solar plants. “How can you resume someone’s property just for not installing solar plants? Imposing a fine would be more appropriate,” he had said during a review meeting in November last year.
