Village near Lucknow yet to be electrified

Lucknow: About 87 kilometres from Lucknow, on the Sitapur –Barabanki border,  lies the Kodra village that demolishes the Modi government’s claims of having electrified every village in the country.

The light in the lives of the people of Kodra peeps from the traditional lantern and most of the children drop out of school because they cannot study after the sun goes down.

According to the people of Kodra, electric poles were installed in the village about two years ago but the electricity never came.

A few families purchased solar panels but they have also stopped working.

“We cannot use mobile phones because we cannot charge them. We have now purchased power banks but go to our friends’ houses in other villages to keep them charged. We cannot even watch TV”, said Devki who dropped out of school after passing class 7. The local people said that most of the boys who lived in the village were not getting marriage proposals. “It is only those boys who work in cities who get married because no girl wants to live in a village that has no electricity”, said Ajay Kumar, a local shopkeeper.

An elderly resident Keshav Kumar said that the local people had sent innumerable applications to the state government and also local leaders but no progress has been made.

“We were rather shocked when the prime Minister said that the last village of Leisang in Manipur had been connected to the power grid and India had achieved its ambitious target of 100 percent electrification”, he said.

The executive engineer of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) RK Misra, when contacted, said, “This is a very unfortunate situation.”

I will investigate the matter and find out which agency worked in the village and why work was left incomplete. If any laxity is found, a notice will be issued to the agency. It will be ensured that the remaining work is completed soon,” he added.