Damauli: Electricity from the national transmission line has finally reached the 115 households spread across Byas Municipality Ward No. 14 and Devghat Rural Municipality Ward No. 4.

To mark the historic event, Krishna Kumar Shrestha (Kisan), member of the House of Representatives, turned on the switch lighting up the hitherto ‘powerless’ households.

Locals can now bid adieu to darkness thanks to the joint support from Nepal Electricity Authority and Tanahun Hydropower Project.

Speaking on the occasion, lawmaker Shrestha also shed some light on the ongoing ‘free from darkness’ campaign that has been brewing all across the district.

“The 115 households can finally reap the benefit of the national transmission line thanks to this campaign, which aims to illuminate every part of Tanahun district in the foreseeable future,” he said.

“Apart from infrastructural development, the government is prioritising several other sectors such as public health and education. Among them, one area of focus is electrification in the remote areas of the country,” he added.

Expressing his exuberance, Bandipur Rural Municipality’s chairman Purna Singh Thapa said that the locals are ecstatic to finally see their ‘Ujyalo Bandipur’ dream materialise. Like Ujyalo Bandipur, Devghat Rural Municipality is also working towards lighting up all of its houses.

“We were planning to supply electricity to the entire Rural Municipality about a year ago. However, the plan unfortunately suffered a setback because of COVID-19 pandemic. But by the end of this fiscal year, electricity will reach entire Devghat,” he assured.

According to Rambabu Chaudhary, Engineer of NEA Damauli Distribution Centre, households along Byas, Bandipur and Devghat finally have access to electricity. “However, electricity is yet to reach a few households within Devghat’s Ward No. 3 and 4 as well as Aabukhairani Rural Municipality’s Ward No 6,” said Engineer Chaudhary.

For a long time, residents here have been relying on small Tukis, and emergency lights after dark. “But those days are now behind us. Our children do not have to study in the flickering dimness of candle light,” said Bandipur Rural Municipality-6 resident Garja Bahadur Gurung.