Power for all villages, says govt, but a few still in dark

COIMBATORE: Freebies distributed by political parties as part of their election promises did come in handy for C Babu who lives in a thatched hut at Nagaroothu, a hilly tribal hamlet in Coimbatore district - the gadgets remained inside the boxes, but these were neatly stacked and used as a makeshift table on which was kept a lantern, some vessels and clothes.
"How will we use the television set and mixer grinder without electricity," asked V S Paramasivam of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People's Association.

Nearly 4,000 households in 20 tribal settlements across the district do not appear to be in the scheme of things when the Union government proclaimed on Sunday that every inhabited village in the country now has access to power supply.

Even after 70 years of Independence, the hilly hamlets of Sinnarpathi, Navamalai, Keelpoonachi and Marapalam in Aliyar panchayat, and Nagaroothu, Erumparai, Poomathi and Sarkarpathy hamlets in Vetaikaranpudhur panchayat remain plunged in darkness. All these are in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve forest.

Ironically, most of the hamlets are a just a few kilometres away from the Sarkarpathy, Navamalai, Kadamparai and Veli Mudi power houses, and the electric lines pass through the settlements, said Paramasivam. "When the official quarters in the tiger reserve forest can get power supply, why can't the hamlets get electricity," he asked.

The state government set up solar panels in the settlements, but these stopped functioning in a couple of months. It was just a flicker in their lives, said a school teacher from Aliyar.

Locals say they can’t afford meter boxes, remain in the dark

Echoing the same sentiment, K Rangasamy, a resident of Nellithurai near Pillur dam, said almost all the settlements got power connections in 2009, but Kadambankombai in Nellithurai panchayat and Sengal Kombai in the Nilgiris were left out.

“Settlements that are adjacent to these hamlets have power supply, but not these two,” said Rangasamy. They had repeatedly requested the district administration to provide electricity. It is a different story for villagers of Sembukarai and Dhoomanur in Anaikatti; the government has provided electricity, but they continue to live in darkness as they cannot afford to buy meter boxes which cost a few thousand each.

Shembukarai, Dhoomanur and Kattusalai have 130 houses, but only five houses and a school have power connections. More than 60 houses are being constructed under the Solar Powered Green House Scheme and the other families cannot afford the cost of wiring. “While Anaikatti MLA VC Arukutty has paid the deposit amount for all the settlements, the residents could not muster the amount required to do the wiring work in their houses,” said a resident of Shembukarai.

Only after the construction of the houses is over can we think about electricity. As of now, we are more concerned about a safe place to live in, he added. When contacted, a senior Tangedco official said they have provided electricity to most of the tribal settlements across the district, but are yet to reach a few remote areas.

He said the chances of fire accidents are high when electric supply is given to settlements in reserve and dense forests. Most of the reserve forest areas have power. “We withheld giving electricity supply only to hamlets within the Indira Gandhi National Park,” the official said. Solar panels are being set up in some hamlets, he said.