Arkhala village of Nawalparasi district gets electricity

BY OUR CORESPONDENT

Nawalparasi, Aug. 5: Eighty-one-year-old Dilmaya Magarni was surprised and her happiness knew no bound when she got the electric light at her house for the first time in her life.

It was not only the 81-year-old woman but also many other villagers of Arkhala VDC of Nawalparasi district, who were excited to get electricity in their houses.

"It was a moment of celebration for us. There were feasts, dancing and singing for three days," said Tul Bahadur Rai of the village. Rai said that they had never thought they would ever get electricity in the village. The Arkhala is one of the remotest villages of the district.

The electricity was reached to the village by the effort of Himalayan Community Development Forum of Nawalparasi at a cost of Rs. 9 million. According to Mahendra Mahato, Chairman of the Forum, they construct a mini-hydro power plant by damming the Deusad stream of the district to produce 26 kilowatt of energy.

Presently, the electricity has been distributed to the six Wards of the VDC benefiting 5,000 villagers, Mahato said.

"After getting the electricity the villagers have felt that they have jumped over to a new age," said Dal Bahadur Susling.

Chairman of the Arkhala VDC said a motorable road has been built to the village and now we have got electricity. "This is a development which we had not imagined that would happen to us."

Rajendra Sangraula of the Forum says presently the villagers are paying Rs. 1 per unit of electricity and this has a positive effect on the villagers. He said the most important thing is that the availability of electricity has infused confidence into the villagers. Many of them now say development activities such as adult education and even small factories will be triggered in the village.

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