ERODE: The Kathirimalai tribal village which has been without electricity all these years will soon be connected to the power grid. A long-standing dream of the 76 families of the Solaga community is set to come true as the work to provide electricity to the village located in the Chennampatti forest range of the Erode Forest Division began on Monday.
All houses will be connected as power lines will be drawn from the foothills for 8.34 kilometres within three months.
Housing and Urban Development Minister S Muthusamy inaugurated the electrification work on Monday. District Collector S Kandasamy, MLAs AG Venkatachalam, VC Chandhirakumar and others were present.
Chief Minister MK Stalin, who recently visited Erode district, announced that electricity will be provided to Kathirimalai. The work in this regard accelerated after the CM's visit.
Kathirimalai, which is 3,600 feet above sea level, can be reached only after trekking for four hours from the foothills at Kathiripatti in the Kolathur Block of Salem district. The village is located 20 km from the Bargur Hills.
Only solar panels light up the households. The villagers have been demanding for decades that electricity be provided in the village.
Speaking at the event, the Minister said, "Electricity is brought to Kathirimalai from Mettur-Sathya Nagar Substation via the Kaveri Puram power line. About 271 electricity poles are being erected."
Speaking to TNIE, AG Venkatachalam, MLA of Anthiyur, who worked tirelessly for this project, said, "In my constituency, this was the only village without electricity. But that issue has now been resolved. Initially, I made many efforts to bring electricity to this village. Some of those attempts ended in failure. At one point, I invited these villagers to Bargur by saying that I would provide all facilities to them. But they refused to leave their own village. The village gained prominence only after I raised this matter in the Assembly."
"This power line is being erected at a cost of Rs 3.32 crore for a distance of about 8.34 km from the foothills. The project work will be completed in about three months. Through this project, power connections will be provided to all houses, schools, and public buildings and bore wells. Street lights are also going to be installed," the MLA added.
"I have another duty to build a tar road to that village. Work is underway for that. Besides, we are building around 30 houses there for the homeless," he added.
C Sathish, Founder of Tree People Charitable Trust of Sathyamangalam, who provided solar facilities to that village, said, "We are happy that the village is getting electricity for the first time. This will improve the quality of life of those villagers."
T Giriyan, a resident of Kathirimalai, said, "I am 51 years old. Our people have been making this request since I was 15 years. Our request has just been fulfilled. Officials should complete this project quickly. This is a huge boon for us."
Excited villagers said they will start using the government-provided colour televisions lying unused in our homes till now. "Now we too can get instant news through television. Our housewives can watch serials. Children can study anytime," Giriyan added.
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