Marwah/ Warwan: The twin valleys of Marwah and Warwan nestled between the Pir Panjal mountain ranges long for the day when electricity reaches their houses.
Located 250 km from Kishtwar district headquarters and 140 km from Anantnag, the area with around 40,000 souls is yet to be electrified.
The villagers have to rely on solar panels provided to them by the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) to light the bulbs.
However, proper electricity still remains a distant dream.
“The winters here are very harsh with mercury plummeting to sub-zero level. The only surface road that connects us to Kokernag remains cut off for six months due to accumulation of snow. Hence, the absence of electricity makes survival more difficult,” says Ghulam Nabi Koka, a shopkeeper in Aafti village of Warwan.
He said generations had passed without seeing bulbs glowing with electricity.
“We have to rely on solar panels for lighting our homes or use candles or kerosene lamps. The traditional firewood remains the only remedy to warm ourselves and the cold water during chilly winters,” said Abdul Rashid of Mungli village.
He said that majority of the people were unaware about the electric gadgets used for cooking or heating purposes.
In the year 2018, the government gave a glimpse of hope to the villagers when it erected electric poles and connected it with wires but then the project was abandoned midway.
“We were ecstatic after the JKPDCL started erecting poles and laying wires. But after sometime they left the work midway leaving us dejected again,” said Abdul Hamid of Astanpora village of Marwa. An official said that the electrification project was allotted to SHILAKA Company but it could not operate it.
“The DPR of the receiving station at Marwa was also prepared but then it didn’t see any progress,” he said.
The official said that the work was now supposed to be entrusted to Grid Corporation of India.
Executive Engineer Jammu Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (JKPDCL), Kishtwar, Altaf Hussain said 450 electric poles were erected by the company and 500 more were lying there. “The survey of the project has been completed and the 33 Kv Dungdoora line would be connected via Astangam to Dachan,” he said. Locals say that in absence of electricity, the towers erected by Jio in few villages and BSNL at Inshan Top do not function properly.
“The towers are operated for a few hours during which we can make calls if at all our mobiles catch the signal,” says Bilal Ahmad.
He said charging their cellphones via solar light was a slow and a time-consuming process.
“Since we were born we have only seen darkness and no light. This is the reason that people here were not able to pursue education and left behind in every sector,” laments Bilal.