In what will seems to be bewildering news for a lot of city folk, people residing in the Dunnadi villages of Shopian in southern Kashmir got electricity in their villages for the first time since its existence of 70 years.
In the remote area of Shopian in Keller tehsil, various villages of Dunnadi were without power even after 70 years of India's independence. But now for the first time, due to the relentless efforts of the electricity department and the district administration, these remote villages were electrified.
The people living in the region are hopeful that children and youth of this village can read and write comfortably after the electrification of their villages. The residents of the village said that the only source of light in their humble households were candles, oil lamps, with the help of each they tried to do their work in their homes.
People were overjoyed as for the first time they saw light bulbs illuminate their houses.
This area of Keller Shopian has been covered under the centrally sponsored scheme Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana which was launched by the Prime Minister in 2017.
Five transformers have been installed in the area and were commissioned within seven days and thereby the villages were electrified.
An official in the power department said that there was no electricity in these remote areas and we have powered these villages by fast-tracking the process of electrification.
Muhammad Khan, a resident of Dunnadi said, " I am very thankful to the electricity department for alleviating our troubles."
"Previous generations before me could not witness the miracle of electrification. Today we are thankful that the department provided electricity in a week," Muhammad Aslam said.
"This tehsil is a remote area of Keller where there was no electricity till now. We have recently installed 35-40 poles of 11 KV with transformers on the fast truck base, this area has two electric cobbles. People are relieved here and we hope this will set an example for the rest of the places.”
There are also some far-flung areas of Kashmir where there has been no electricity since independence, but Centre is trying to light up every part of the Kashmir Valley.
