a village in Kashmir The area has received electricity for the first time in 75 years.
Tethan, in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, has a population of just 200, and relies on traditional sources such as wood for energy and diyas and candles for lighting.
The village now has electricity under an Indian federal government scheme called the Prime Minister’s Development Package.
“We had started the process of networking in 2022,” news agency ANI quoted Fayaz Ahmed Sofi, an official of Anantnag’s power development department, as saying.
“But there was an issue of tapping of a high tension line. Today electricity was brought to this remote area. We have installed a 63 (KV) transformer here.
Residents of this village have seen electricity for the first time after 75 years,” he added in reference to the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.
Videos on social media showed residents of the village dancing and celebrating.
“We have seen lightning for the first time today. Our children will now study in the light. They will be happy. We had to face a lot of problems due to lack of electricity. We were till now dependent on traditional wood for our energy needs. Our problems are now solved,” resident Fazul-u-Din Khan was quoted as saying.
The development comes four years after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country achieved 100 percent electrification of all inhabited villages.
according to Federal Ministry of EnergyAll the inhabited villages in the country without electricity – about 18,374 in total – got electricity by 28 April 2018.
This number does not include 1,305 uninhabited villages.
According to a 2020 report by Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), 96.7 percent of Indian households are now connected to the grid, while another 0.33 percent rely on off-grid power sources.
The report noted that 2.4 percent of Indian households are still unelectrified, with most of them concentrated in rural areas of northern states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.