Proposal to prepare langar at Golden Temple with solar energy

AMRITSAR : In a bid to reduce air pollution, langar for devotees will now be prepared by using solar energy at the Guru Ram Das Langar Hall (community kitchen) at the Golden Temple here.

At present, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and wooden sticks are used as fuel for cooking langar here. The process to install the new system may take six months.

Mumbai-based Enpar Group, a private company, has volunteered to donate the solar energy system worth ₹1.5 crore to the Golden Temple through the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA).

The system will be installed in the newly constructed portion of the Langar Hall, known as the world’s largest community kitchen.

The steam that the system will generate will be used for preparing food, said Balour Singh, director of PEDA, who led a three-member team that visited the shrine on Monday to identify the place for installation of the system.

The other two members of the team included Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) additional secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhoora Kohna and Golden Temple manager Sulakhan Singh.

The PEDA is playing a key role in the project as it will subsidise it. Former PEDA chairman and SGPC member Bhai Manjit Singh, who was also present, said, “With the new system, the consumption of wood and LPG will decrease thereby reducing air pollution in the area. “Besides, food will take lesser time to be prepared,” he added.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has already introduced a system at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj, a shrine situated near the Golden Temple, under which food is prepared with the use of steam, but it is not generated by solar energy.

Apart from this, the SGPC has also started organic farming at Gurdwara Satlani Sahib to grow organic foodgrains and vegetables to be used in the langar.

On an average, 100 LPG cylinders are consumed daily for preparing langar on normal days, but nowadays 125 cylinders are being consumed because of a heavy rush of devotees due to summer vacations in schools.

An average of 50 quintals of wood is used daily for preparing langar, said SGPC officials.

MUMBAIBASED COMPANY HAS OFFERED TO DONATE SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM WORTH ₹1.5 CRORE THROUGH THE PUNJAB ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY