SHOPIAN (J&K)-

Electricity is one of the main fuels of development and its absence is enough to impair all other efforts to alleviate the struggle of the poor. Although the situation was eerily grim in a remote village of J&K’s Shopian district, the district authorities have finally electrified the area and have become a reason for the residents’ ecstasy.

The village Donaro, located almost 20 km away from district headquarter Shopian, is placed at a hilltop of Peer Panjal. The hilly area was without electricity and people there had no hope of its sanction by the local officials either as they had made many failed attempts to impress them for conceding to their demand.

However, things turned around for the villagers when the authorities, especially the District Development Commissioner Choudhary Mohammad Yasin, took up the issue with the concerned government department and made sure that the villagers get electricity in the shortest possible time.

Consequently, the long-cherished dream of residents of remote Donaro village finally became a reality on Sunday after the village was electrified.

The villagers, mostly Pahari and Gojri speaking people, were used to age-old kerosene chimneys in order to light up their houses. “Things have turned around for us. We only dreamt about it,” a local resident, Mukhtar, said.

Another local Hameed Ullah said, “It was after a news report that the administration took cognizance and finally electrified our village. Interestingly, it took them just seven days to illuminate our homes after the news report was published which signifies the swift approach of the district authorities.”

Local people help PDD employees while working on the transmission line
Local people help PDD employees while working on the transmission line

The villagers said that their children can now study without any hassles. Besides, they can also think of using electricity for entertainment, heating and cooking purposes like the people do in other urban areas.

Meanwhile, the locals expressed happiness and thanked all the officials, including local PDD Department and DC Shopian, for making the long-awaited demand a reality.

It is pertinent to mention that the development to electrify the village was done under Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana.

**Dil-Paziir (Urdu; meaning ‘heart-pleasing’) is a special edition positive news series brought to you by Digpu, starting from Kashmir. Our local journalists have successfully shared many inspirational stories from the valley – from the invention of E-Charkha, automatic ventilator in Kashmir, stories of brotherhood through to the first-ever cricket tourney for Blind sportsmen, all the stories make us awe-struck.

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