Bank would have a panel of solar energy companies and distributors for whose products it would provide 50 percent financing (returnable in monthly instalments) at zero percent interest rate to the villagers in the metro villages. The solar items would be provided to the villagers at standard retail price and the bank and manufacturers/distributors would split equally the retail profit margins. The bank could be established as an independent entity or formed as a green energy banking division in major commercial banks. Whatever the case may be, there should also be mobile green energy banking units to provide the service at the doorsteps of the villagers.
Gas and power producing biogas plants would also be an essential feature of the proposed metro villages. Smaller plants would be for residential purposes while bigger plants of 50 to 100 cubic metres would be for poultry and dairy farms and could be owned and run by biradaris (communities) and farmer groups since they cost around half a million rupees and above. The Green Energy Bank could facilitate the farmers for biogas plants too.
Lack of sanitation facilities in villages compels people to relieve themselves in the fields. That’s a problematic situation especially for womenfolk. Poorly-managed sewage pits are also used. Waste energy plants running on human waste could also be established in metro villages with community toilets that would facilitate people and provide continuous supply of human waste to the plants. The biogas produced from these plants could be used for agricultural purposes and power production.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government plans to supply solar power to 5,800 off-grid households in 200 villages. The government will pay 90 percent of the cost of the solar equipment with the rest shared by households. Families will receive a 200-watt solar panel, two batteries and other accessories to run a ceiling fan, a pedestal fan, three LED lights and two mobile phone charging slots. The KP government should also consider launching metro villages as this scheme could be carried out through practical financial arrangements between villagers/farmers and banks and green energy companies without major spending coming from the provincial exchequer.
The Punjab government could also launch the metro-villages scheme. Villages where more than 50 percent of the households/farmers agree to take part in the scheme should be selected. Eventually more and more villages would join the scheme.
In Pakistan pesticides are excessively used in agriculture – increasing pest resistance, affecting human health and harming the environment. We could have advanced versions of metro villages which besides being green energy self-sufficient with productive waste management would also replace pesticides with IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and excessive crop watering with drip irrigation systems.
Rather than almost always learning from the world we could turn our villages into metro villages for the world to learn from us for a change.
Email: moazzamhai@yahoo.com
There are over 11 million Pakistanis settled abroad, out of which around six million work in Gulf and Middle East
This year alone, US Treasury would have to roll-over $10 to $14 trillion in maturing short-term debt
Tear gas no longer marks just protest sites; it paints entire cities as battlegrounds but then again, PTI did it first
Political structures and governance systems have been central to economic and social development
It is confirmed now 40 Pakistanis had died after boat of migrants had capsized in sea near Greece
Many people believe that in future, AI will play an even more significant role in their lives
