After lifetime of waiting,year of toil,21 villages get power – for 15 days

A spark was seen in the cables and the power went as swiftly as it had come. Nine months later,the villages remain in the dark.

They had been provided electricity under the Gujarat Jyotigram Yojana launched in 2003,meant to provide villages 24-hour supply. The region remains backward,with many of the villages getting pucca roads only this year under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Many are yet to see a school,while there is not a single hospital around.

Electricity,the villagers had hoped,would make their lives easier and safer,and they had offered their services for free to state officials to help lay the electricity poles and cables along the arduous terrain stretching over 25 km.

Wadia sarpanch Maganbhai Raratiya says they didn’t mind,though the work lasted over a year. “Since the project was to benefit us,we helped the private contractor set up electricity poles and carry the generators,which is not easy in our region given the hilly terrain,without taking any money.”

Dilip Kadia,Deputy Engineer with Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (MGVCL),said: “We had given the work of electrification and maintenance of electricity line in the region to a private party. From what we have learnt,there is a problem with electric cables and we have informed the private party.