KARACHI: In order to provide a comfortable environment to prisoners, a solar panel project has been initiated at the District Prison & Correctional Facility Dadu with estimated cost of Rs 4.5 million.

The solarization of District Prison Dadu project has been initiated and under the first phase of 5 KVA solar panel installation with batteries has been completed on the roof of the one of the barracks.

In this regard a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Kazi Nazir Ahmed Inspector General Sindh Prisons & Corrections Service (SPCS), Karachi and Social Worker Murad Ali Soni and his friends including Sohail Japan Wala, Mehboob Kapadia, Jawed Masood Khan, Faisal Hussain, Muhammad Masood Khan and Mehmood Rashid.

As per MoU, SPCS department would provide space for the installation of solar panels and Murad Soni and his partners (donors) would provide the equipment to be installed at District Prison & Correctional Facility Dadu.

Donors will complete the entire prison paneling within 6 months from the date of signing of this memorandum as there is severer electricity problem in the Dadu prison.

The donors not only take the responsibility of installation of the entire solar panel project, but also agreed to monitor and maintain the equipment for the next two years or its warranty period, whichever is closer.

According to Murad Soni, the SPCS department will provide conveyance for shifting of all equipment’s as well as technicians and host them till the finalization of the project. A governing body to IG Prisons will be deputed for the smooth running of this project and in case, if there is any issue with working of solar panel, donors would replace or rectify the same, he added

He informed that it was decided to install a 30 kVA solar panel set up on 5 barracks of inmates and on the departmental head administration building of Dadu prison. The estimated cost of this project is over Rs 4.5 million.