36 Kumaon villages may not get electricity even in next 2 years

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, July 30

Over 2,500 hamlets and 36 villages in the Kumaon region, including 29 along the borders with China and Nepal in Pithoragarh district, are likely to miss the electrification target of May 1, 2018, set by the Central Government. 

Sources of the Gramin Vidyut Pariyojana said the work on the scheme was running at a snail’s pace and only one per cent progress had been achieved till date in the border villages of Kumaon. Engineers working on the project said the work had been hit due to lack of funds and inclement weather. 

Sources said work in three of the 36 villages was in progress and work had just begun in another village.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15 last year had promised that 18,452 villages would get electricity by May 1, 2018. Residents of  high-altitude villages situated along the borders with China and Nepal in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts say their children are migrating from their native villages due to various reasons, including non-availability of electricity. 

“Villages along the border in Nepal are illuminated with power while residents of high-altitude villages on the Indian side are still using kerosene lamps. The use of kerosene is affecting the studies of our children and giving rise to eye ailments among the aged,” said Mohan Singh, a resident of Chooka village on the Nepal border in Champawat district.  “The emphasis is being laid on over 31 non-electrified border villages in Uttarakashi district and 29 villages in Pithoragarh district,” said Rakesh Kumar, Executive Engineer working on the rural electrification scheme at Haldwani. “In Pithoragarh district, only nine villages have been linked with the power grid while the remaining 20 villages to be electrified by local means are being worked out to electrify them as soon as possible,” said Rakesh.

According to sources, besides 29 non-electrified villages in Pithoragarh district, there are four such villages in Almora, two in Bageshwar and one in Champawat district. “The work on electrifying these villages under the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gramin Vidhutikaran Yojana will not meet the target as the Central agency is not releasing funds required for the project in time,” he said.