14 days on, Spiti valley remains powerless

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, March 14

The residents of remote Spiti valley of tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti have been facing hardships due to disruption in power supply. Power supply infrastructure suffered major damage during the recent heavy snowfall in the Spiti and Kinnaur region. Due to that the entire Spiti valley has been reeling under darkness for the past 14 days.

The recent snowfall brought cheer to the farmers but at the same time it meant suffering for the people of the Spiti valley. Power supply was disrupted and roads remained blocked for more than a week in the valley. Drinking water supply was affected badly. Disruption in power supply also contributed to the shortage of drinking water.

Takpa Tenzin, president of Spiti Civil Society, said, “Without power supply for the last 14 days in Spiti valley, it seems we are living in a primitive era. As there is no power supply, mobile signals are poor. Drinking water supply has been badly affected. There is an urgent need to speed up the restoration work so that power supply is restored at the earliest.”

“Power supply infrastructure should be strengthened as per the geographical condition of Spiti valley, where heavy snowfall occurs during winter every year. Many villagers are fetching water on yaks and donkeys in harsh conditions from distant places to meet the daily needs,” he said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Kaza, Rahul Jain said, “The recent heavy snowfall has caused considerable damage to power infrastructure between Spiti and Kinnaur. A 66 KV power supply structure at Pooh in Kinnaur district was disrupted. Now, efforts are being made by the HP State Electricity Board to restore power supply from another 22 KV station from Kinnaur to Spiti. It is expected that power supply will be restored in Spiti by this evening.”

The ADC stated that a majority of roads have been restored in Spiti valley, while restoration work is under progress on a few village roads.

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