61% ‘dhanis’ don’t meet 1-km criterion for power

Deepender Deswal

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Tribune News Service

Hisar, September 17

The state government’s initiative to supply power to non-electrified ‘dhanis’ located in remote areas on the outskirts of villages will cover nearly 39 per cent of households living without electricity for many years in Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has started the process to implement Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s announcement to provide power connections to ‘dhanis’ located to a distance of 1 km from the nearest village.

A survey conducted by the DHBVN revealed that of the 3,872 ‘dhanis’ having 5,074 households, 1,397 ‘dhanis’ having 1,948 households are located within the prescribed 1 km limit from the nearest ‘lal dora’.

This government electrification drive will cover 39 per cent of the non-electrified households in ‘dhanis’. The remaining 3,099 households, or 61 per cent, will be still out of bounds. A series of reports in these columns have highlighted the plight of people living in ‘dhanis’ without electricity as it is impacting their lifestyle.

A number of residents of ‘dhanis’ near Kinala, Khairi and Dhansu villages have said their children are unable to get proper education in the absence of electricity.

DHBVN Chief Engineer RK Jain said they had started work on the Chief Minister’s announcement and a detailed project would be submitted for budgetary allocation soon. Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala had released Rs 4.25 crore for electrification for over 500 ‘dhanis’ in the last four years.

Activist Krishan Swaroop Gorakhpuria said the trend to settle in ‘dhanis’ outside villages had started about 35 years ago, especially in Bishnoi-dominated villages. It picked up as people from the farming community started shifting out of habitations to settle in farms.

Hisar DC Ashok Meena said they had identified 387 ‘dhanis’ in the district which would be given power connections soon. He said another 1,123 ‘dhanis’ would be providing solar power by the Haryana Renewable Energy Department.

Govt initiative

• State government’s initiative to supply power to non-electrified ‘dhanis’ in remote areas on the outskirts of villages will cover 39 per cent of households in Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts
• Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has started process to implement Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s announcement to provide power connections to ‘dhanis’ located 1 km from nearest village
• The state government’s electrification drive will cover 39 per cent of non-electrified households in ‘dhanis’ while the remaining 3,099 households, or 61 per cent, will continue to remain out of bounds