By Alex Guite
LAMKA, Sept 7: Mata Mualtam Village, which is just 6 Km from the district head quarter of Churachandpur, has been reeling under darkness for the last eight years as there is no electric power in the village.
Mannu, a villager speaking to IFP said the village had to be shifted to a higher ground, as the previous location of the village was submerged by water with the commissioning of Khuga Dam in 2006.
She lamented that with the completion of the Dam, it has not serve any purpose to the villagers of Mata. Before the election so many people came and had promised the villagers that electric power will be restored in the village, she continued.
Another woman from the same village said that children have to study with candles. With PDS not functioning properly in the area, Kerosene is sold at Rs 70 to 80 per Liter at the black market, she added.
A woman, on the condition of anonymity said that Rs 500 per household were deducted from the MNREGS wage for buying electric transformer, but it has not materialised till today. She alleged that many villages’ chiefs have been deducting money from the MNREGS wage as ‘electric fee’, which is against the norms of MNREGS, adding that when they went to check at the electricity office, there was no record of money being deposited.
It may be mentioned that a wind turbine was installed in the Mata Village to generate electric power after the village was dislocated by the Khuga project. But the turbine at present has been found to be dysfunctional.
One elder from the village told IFP that they have no idea when the village will see electricity. “It is like living in the dark ages”, she said.
It may also be mentioned that Geljang, Ngoiphai, Phaibem, Zoutuinuam, Lamjang, Lunmual, Kullian, S Phaiza, Hiangdung, Panglian, Geltui, S Munhoih and S Zezaw etc are some of the villages that are deprived of electricity after the commissioning of Khuga Dam.