After years of struggle, Tamil Nadu's Sembukkarai finally gets electricity
How many of us know that 70 years after independence, we still do not have 100 percent electrification even in states which claim to have provided electricity to their people? Sembukkarai is one such settlement in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu which now has electricity after years of struggle to get it.
A few years ago, an NGO helped some houses get solar power for a few hours a day. Other than that, they have had no electricity in their village until now. According to DNA, one of the village elders, Palaniswamy, said,
"Electricity has never come to our village till date. Since Karunanidhi gave us TV sets, we thought of making use of it. I spent Rs 3,000 on buying this battery so that I can at least use the TV. The mixer and grinder given by Jayalalithaa are too power-heavy to run on batteries."
Ironically, both the DMK and AIADMK governments have given most households mixers, grinders, and televisions as freebies. But for obvious reasons, they have been of no use.
In fact, after Tamil Nadu's maiden assembly election that took place in 1952, it was only last year that they got a polling booth of their own. The lack of electricity in the area is not for lack of trying. According to The Times of India, Arukutty, an AIADMK MLA said,
"We sent a proposal to the government four years ago. It was only in January that work was initiated.''
He is the one who inaugurated power supply in the tribal setting. Adding to that, he is the one who footed the bill of Rs 3,200 that each tribal household had to pay as a deposit to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited to get electricity.
The residents of the village have expressed happiness at receiving electricity, and they will now get to use the freebies that have been gathering dust for years now.
The lack of electricity brought about a plethora of problems, which can now be solved. Children who had to be sent away to boarding schools can now be closer to home. With electricity, the villagers can dig borewells. The encroachment of fields by elephants and wild boars because there was no electricity to power the fencing provided by the forest department can also be avoided, and the villagers can revive agriculture.
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