In this era of super development, 40,000 people living in the Marwah and Warwan valleys, located between Pir Panjal mountain ranges, continue to suffer due to lack of electricity supply. There is no end to their suffering.
The people say that they have to rely on solar panels for lighting their homes or use candles or kerosene lamps. The traditional firewood remains the only way to warm themselves and the cold water during winters.
Not providing the Marwah and Warwan valleys with electricity supply is a failure of the concerned department in the past. While with science, technology and development, the lives of people have undergone a sea change for better, the population in Marwah and Warwan seem not that lucky on that front.
May be their voice was not reaching effectively to the concerned department. If the authorities in the past had taken their sufferings seriously, they would have got the electricity supply much before; like the people in other parts in Jammu and Kashmir.
There may be some technical reasons for the delay but today the science and technology is overcoming the problems with great success. According to residents, the electric poles were erected and connected with wires in 2018 but then the project was abandoned midway.
Officials said that the electrification project was allotted to a company but the company could not operate it. They added that the work was now supposed to be entrusted to Grid Corporation of India.
According to them, the survey of the project has been completed and the 33 KV Dungdoora line would be connected via Astangam to Dachan. It is being hoped now that the concerned authorities take a serious view of the sufferings of the people there and take all necessary steps so that the work is resumed at the earliest and the project of electrification completed at the earliest.
With such a move the people in Marwah and Warwan valleys can heave a sigh of relief and become part and parcel of the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir. The authorities must also take care of other problems, being faced by the people there.
Those problems should be also solved. The people must also have better healthcare and education facilities there. The residents say that they have to face very harsh winters with mercury plummeting to sub-zero level.
The only road that connects them to Kokernag remains cut off for six months due to snow in winter. There is immediate need to provide all the facilities to the people in Marwah and Warwan valleys, which are available to the people in rest of Jammu and Kashmir.