MYSURU: Villagers of Doddabyranakuppe (DB Kuppe) gram panchayat in Heggadadevanakote taluk in the district seem to have run out of luck with the sun as darkness has enveloped their hamlets once again.
Three years ago, 244 solar streetlights, one in front of every household, were installed across 13 hamlets, including those in DB Kuppe.
But now, a majority of these streetlights have stopped functioning, and the streets have plunged back into the darkness that hung over them three years ago.
The problem lies not with the quality of the solar streetlights, but with the villagers themselves. During the last three years, many villagers used to disconnect the battery of the solar light and charge their mobile phones and other gadgets with them. In some places, the solar panels and batteries were even stolen.
Over the past few years, though a couple of households were provided with electricity and one or two streetlights installed here and there, it has not made a big difference. There is no lineman assigned to take up maintenance of these lights, and if any of them stops functioning, it takes weeks for it to be repaired.
Zilla panchayat member S C Manjunath said the batteries were being misused because of lack of awareness among villagers.
DB Kuppe gram panchayat member Thirupathi told Express that the solar streetlights had been installed in 2011-12 at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. All of them functioned perfectly at the time, but after the annual maintenance contract given to a private company lapsed, there was no one to maintain the lights. He said there is little villagers or the local leaders can do now.
Mayavva, a villager, said, “Two years ago, we got power supply, but now, for more than 12 days a month, we spend our time without electricity. Living in the dark has become a habit for us. When we got power, we were overjoyed, but the happiness was short-lived.”