Residents of Hanuman Chok in Dhangadhimai municipality-7,Siraha are in a serious trouble as Nepal Electricity Authority, Lahan, doesn’t not care to install electricity transformer in their locality. Around 27 households have been forced to stay in dark or resort to lighting ‘Tuki’ (a traditional kerosene lamp).
What worry more to Hanuman Chok residents are their agro-products drying up in the field for lack of irrigation due to the absence of electricity.
Local people of Hanuman Chok had collected Rs 361,000 six months ago to purchase transformer on their own. However, the NEA Lahan has not yet installed it.
“Initially, NEA officials did not pay heed to our request to install a transformer in our community. As electricity is important for irrigation rather than lighting lamps during night, we decided to purchase a transformer by raising fund among ourselves,” said one Ram Chandra Mahato of Dhangadhimai-7. “Six months have passed since we purchased the transformer but NEA has not installed it yet.”
After seeing a slimmer possibility of transformer being installed anytime soon, the Hanuman Chok residents started lighting lamps by borrowing electricity from nearby village called Phulkaha via wire. But due to overload, even Phulkaha’s transformer started burning repeatedly. Later, Phulkaha’s residents barred Hanuman Chok people from operating electric motors for irrigation, according to one local Ram Narayan Yadav.
NEA Lahan Chief Madhav Prasad Yadav said installation of transformer was delayed due to lack of necessary electric equipment. He added the equipments could not be purchased due to prolonged Madhes agitation. “We acknowledge your problems and we will soon install the transformer,” Yadav told the people of Hanuman Chok.
Source : eKantipur
