MANGALURU: It will be a dream come true for 47 tribal families living in the Banjara Malekudiya Colony in Belthangady taluk, about 90 km from Mangaluru — in less than a week from now, the colony will be lit up by conventional power for the first time. Providing electricity to the colony had become almost impossible as it was mostly surrounded by forests where drawing power lines is prohibited.
However, with sustained efforts, the district administration, the power utility MESCOM and the tribal community, were finally able to find a way out. They requested two private estates, which have huge tracts of land between the colony and the mainland, to grant permission to draw power lines through their land, which they obliged. The power utility has drawn 12 km of power line under the Centre’s Saubhagya Scheme to electrify the tribal colony. Of this, about 5 km of HT and LT lines pass through Yenepoya and Jordania estates.
Shivashankar, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), Mescom, said, usually, no private property owners allow HT lines to pass over their properties. So, “we are appreciative of the two estate holdings for allowing them to erect electric poles on their land for free”.Works on installing the new power line have been completed at a cost of Rs 1.2 crore which includes erection of three transformers and over 450 electricity poles.
Some tribals currently use solar lamps and hydropower
The authorities even carried out testing of the new power line recently. Shivashankar said the power line, which passes through forested areas, has suffered some damage now and they are in the process of restoring it. Krishnegowda, Assistant Engineer, Mescom, Ujire, said, since the power lines connecting the tribal colony pass through forests, there could be more power outages during monsoon. Hence, they have asked the tribals to retain other sources of power which they presently have till such time conventional power supply is fully restored.
Shekar, a tribal leader, said Malekudiya tribals’ struggle for electricity started nearly two decades ago. Mescom had carried out a survey to electrify the colony by drawing power lines through the forest land. But the forest department did not allow the works to be carried out. After some time, the tribals gave up hope. Some of them currently use solar lamps while some others even generate hydropower from the small waterfalls nearby through ingenious ways. But they get power only when there is flowing water.
The tribals cultivate arecanut and rubber in the 5 acres of land allotted to each family by the government. A road laid by Yenepoya Estate for a 24-megawatt power generation unit in the region, works on which are underway, has also helped the tribals in gaining easy access to their colony.