Over hundred villages in Jammu and Kashmir are "un-electrified", the state's Power Development Minister Sunil Kumar Sharma has said adding efforts were on to ensure power supply reaches them by the end of next month.
Sharma's comments come a week after the Centre claimed all villages in India had access to electricity.
“A total of 102 villages in Jammu region remain un-electrified and all out efforts are on to cover these villages. We are hopeful of electrifying these villages by June 30 this year,” Sharma told reporters here yesterday.
He said the work to electrify these villages was on at war footing as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it his priority to provide electricity to each and every household in the country.
"In my home constituency (Kishtwar), 44 villages are without electricity,” he said.
To meet the deadline, he said the department had deployed the Indian Air Force (IAF) to reach inaccessible areas.
I am quite confident that by June 30, all the left out villages of entire Jammu and Kashmir will be electrified, the minister said.
Sharma said though there was hilly and tough terrain in Jammu and Kashmir, luckily, the state was blessed with numerous water resources.
The Chenab river alone has a potential to generate 22000 MW of power, he said.
“Besides, there are also hundreds of streams and rivulets where power can be generated. We have given the mandate to Jammu Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JKEDA) to tap the energy from these resources,” he said.
PTI
