717 Tribal hamlets receiving three phase power supply in Telangana

The government has identified 2,156 tribal hamlets located deep in forest areas for supply of three phase power at an estimated cost of Rs. 250 crore.

Hyderabad: The Telangana government, which has introduced several measures to improve the living standards of tribals, has now taken up initiative to supply power to interior tribal habitations in the State. The government has identified 2,156 tribal hamlets located deep in forest areas for supply of three phase power at an estimated cost of Rs. 250 crore. Of these, power supply has started in about 717 hamlets and work has been completed in 1202 hamlets .

According to Energy Department officials, out of the balance 237 hamlets, permission has been granted to supply power to 52 tribal hamlets and a Differential Global Positioning System(DGPS) survey of about 150 hamlets has been completed. Out of these 237 hamlets, 128 are in Asifabad district, 28 in Adilabad, 35 in Nirmal, 20 in Bhadradri Kothagudem, 25 in Mancherial, and 1 in Kamareddy district. The power officials stated that efforts were being made to connect all the tribal hamlets with power by the year end.

The scheduled areas are spread over nine districts, which have 3,146 Tribal Gram Panchayats. There are about 182 tribal hamlets, mostly located in districts of Asifabad, Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancheriyal, Khammam, and Kothagudem, which are located inside the protected forests, for electrifying them proposals have been sent under the Forest Conservation Act, an official informed.

Meanwhile, the Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSNPDCL) had identified about 66 tribal hamlets for supplying single phase power and out of them work in 46 hamlets have been completed, 1 hamlet work is in progress , 12 hamlets DGPS has been completed and 7 hamlets electrification proposals have been rejected. According to NPDCL officials out of the 46 hamlets work completed, 12 are in Adilabad district, Asifabad(15), Bhupalpally(5), Kamareddy(5), Khammam(1), Kothagudem(6), Mancherial(1) and Warangal rural(1).

The State government was already providing road connectivity and provision of basic infrastructure facilities in the tribal hamlets. The government has spent Rs. 60 crore for internal roads in 440 tribal villages and Rs. 2.39 crore for solar electrification in 53 tribal habitats. “The government aims to boost connectivity and solve the basic issues faced by the inhabitants while retaining the inherent nature of the tribal settlement,”an official of the tribal welfare department stated.