Srinagar, Jan 2: With the Power Development Department (PDD) failing to provide electricity to dozens of villages of Shopian district in south Kashmir, the residents have begun pooling money to buy transformers from the market to light up their houses.
A delegation from Rawalpora, Dashipora, Bemnipora, Hanjipora and Pallapora areas of Shopian said they recently purchased at least 10 transformers, electric wire and electricity polls on their own. “We were fed up with the callous attitude of the PDD officials. We were left with no option than to purchase transformers from the market by collecting funds door-to-door,” Rafiq Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Rawalpora village said.
He said the PDD doesn’t even repair transformers in many villages, thus making people suffer in absence of electricity.
The residents said a 63 KV transformer cost them Rs 70,000 while they purchased a 100 KV transformer for Rs 85,000.
 “Each family had to dole out Rs 3500 for the new transformer. The PDD did not provide transformers to the extended localities of many villages,” Shabir Bhat, a resident of Dashipora said.
The residents said they visited the local PDD offices many times, requesting them to provide the transformers. “But we were made to roam from pillar to post,” Bhat said.
Interestingly, a PDD official confirmed that the residents have purchased at least 12 transformers from the market after collecting an amount of Rs 30 lakh.
The official said in villagers from Hanjipora, which houses 100 families, have purchased four transformers to meet their electricity demand.   
When contacted, Gulzar Ahmad, XEN, PDD Shopian, said: “It is illegal to purchase transformers privately. We provide transformers according to the load in a locality. The department can’t afford to sanction more transformers as demanded by every village committee.”

Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 Jan 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 3 Jan 2013 00:00:00 IST