Doda village in darkness since Independence

Ranjit Thakur

Doda, February 2

The remote Sheinkly village in the Dessa area of Doda district continues to grope in darkness even after 68 years after the Independence.

Though the village was electrified twice in the past three decades, the “substandard power infrastructure” did not last long, forcing the people to live in the dark.

The village was first electrified in the 1980’s, but only for a brief period. It was again electrified in 2013-14, however, the infrastructure did not sustain for long.

Sheinkly village is just 25 km from the district headquarters houses around 350 families.

In 2013-14, poles, wires and transformers were installed under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana and electricity was supplied to the village, but torrential rains and heavy snowfall damaged the whole infrastructure.

The villagers alleged that the agency concerned had created “substandard infrastructure”, which did not sustain the vagaries of weather and crumbled. They also claimed that huge amount of public money was “misused”.

“The officials had put up electric poles and wires in the village couple of years ago, electricity came for a month, but the supply was suddenly cut off one day. It’s been more than two years since then, but the department concerned has not restructured the damaged infrastructure to provide electricity to the village,” said Choor Singh, a Sheinkly resident.

“There is no change in our lives. We are living the same way our parents used to live since decades. Mobile connectivity, television is still a dream for the people here,” said another villager.

Not only electricity, but healthcare, roads, potable water, schools and other basic amenities are missing in this remote village, forcing people to send their children to different cities for studies.

Executive Engineer, Power Development Department, Doda, Bishan Dass said: “I recently discussed the issue with the legislator concerned. He assured us of funds and directed us to take up the restoration work. I have send poles to the village and hopefully, within days electricity supply will be restored.”

Additional District Development Commissioner, Doda, Narinder Singh Bali said: “We have already directed the department concerned to restore the damaged infrastructure in remote villages. The poles have already reached in couple of villages and rest of the damaged infrastructure will be replaced within a couple of weeks.”