Jharkhand can show the path to clean environment: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that Jharkhand could show the path to the world for a clean environment as the state was opting for solar power to generate electricity even though it had vast reserves of coal.

"I am feeling elated after inaugurating a 180-kW rooftop solar power project in Khuti district. Today is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and a reason for me to arrive here to inaugurate the solar power project as Gandhi-ji believed in green and clean environment," Modi said in his speech after inaugurating the project at the Khuti district courts here.

The Khuti district courts are the first such complex in India to be lighted by solar power.

"I attended the United Nations meeting, where the world leaders were concerned about environment, global warming and rising sea levels. Our ancestors never taught us to harm the environment but for the sake of humanity, India is ready to contribute for clean environment," the prime minister added.

"Solar power will expedite delivery of justice in the Khuti court. A few years ago, during a judges conference, a judge cited lack of power in courtrooms for the slow justice delivery system," he remarked.

Modi also appealed the people to use LED bulbs to reduce power bills.

Modi also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries.

"Today, we are observing the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri . Mahatma Gandhi was very close to environment. Shastri-ji took his last breath in Tashkent (in erstwhile USSR). I had an opportunity to unveil his statue in Tashkent. The country remembers his contribution to the 1965 India-Pakistan war. The country recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the war," Modi said in his speech.