Chandrapur: Tumirkasa, an obscure hamlet located deep inside a dense forest 150 km from the district headquarters, will find its name etched in history as the village that elevated the tribal-dominated and Naxalite-infested Gadchiroli to the status of a fully electrified district on March 31, over 70 years after Independence.
The jubilant residents of Tumirkasa, a hamlet with 22 houses, welcomed Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL) officials with traditional dance and music. All the houses have been provided power connections free of cost under Saubhgya Yojana. The villagers led by sarpanch Chaya Talandi expressed their gratitude as the light ‘dawned’ into their lives.
Regional director of MSEDCL, Bhalchandra Khandait, and chief engineer of Chandrapur zone, Dilip Ghugal, visited the village to witness the electrification ceremony.
Chief engineer Dilip Ghugal informed that MSEDCL had identified 66 un-electrified villages in Gadchiroli district during a survey in December 2016. The discom was shouldered with the task of electrification of 38 villages with conventional power supply. The department undertook the task on warfooting and all the 38 villages were connected with power supply within a span of one-and-a-half years, he said.
“The remaining 28 villages are located in a very difficult terrain and deep inside the forest where taking conventional power supply lines is simply impossible. Hence, Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) is taking care of the electrification of these villages through solar power,” Ghugal said.
The survey had also identified 201 villages which, though have power supply lines, had lost power supply following damage to the poles or lack of maintenance. Out of these, power supply to 153 villages has been restored and work on the remaining villages is going to be accomplished by June 30, he added.
