The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The villagers in the remote village of Pantang are happy with the supply of electricity that has finally reached their homes on 26th April.
Up until now, the village made use of solar and fuel lamps, while those in the more urban or semi-urban places had electricity to light their homes.
The 17 households in the village that was out of the power supply zone, will now glitter with the electric power supply to serve their needs 24 hours a day.
Electrification works in the some other gewogs are still underway in the Dzongkhag.
Talking with the Phangkhar Gewog Administration Officer (GAO) Chhogyal Tenzin, he said more than 90% of the electrification work has been completed and supplied to the village while some works are still underway.
He said the people are happy with the supply of electricity, and excitement is showing on their faces. The villagers are also keen to help out with labour contribution, such as carrying cable wires, for the promise of brighter homes.
One of the residents and a teacher, Cheten Norbu who served for almost four years in the village said, “I have spent the four years literally in the dark, without electricity and I was totally out of touch with the news updates and developmental upkeeps.”
As soon as the village was electrified, he went to town and bought himself a television set and dish antenna to connect to TV signals. Cheten Norbu said, “I don’t know how far it will work, but I am excited.”
And it seems he is not the only one to have felt this way, as some of the staff from the school have also bought themselves television sets and dish antennas.
The lifestyle of the villagers is expected to change now, as the electricity will lessen the use of fuel lamps. In terms of health benefits, with lesser the smoke from fuel lamps, the better the respiratory health of the people. The brighter living space and surroundings will also help improve the hygienic practice and sanitation of the residents.
“People can now make use of electric rice cookers and curry cookers for easy cooking and maintain cleanliness unlike earlier years,” GAO Chhogyal Tenzin said.
Moreover, until now everything was done manually, and I expect that public service delivery will be done at the fastest mode and it will be time saving as well, he added.
Internet facility is not available in the offices in the gewogs, but there is an option of using the data cards, which is expensive for the office workers. Most of the government servants placed in the village will have the chance to connect to the cyber world, television news and entertainment, with the recent development.
