The villagers are not reaping the benefit of solar lights installed with the help of Zila Panchayat, as most of these are defunct. The people are angry with Zila Panchayat and Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Authority (UREDA) for doing nothing to maintain these lights which were installed spending lakhs of rupees.
The district Panchayat had installed about three dozen solar lights in the rural markets and the roads in Tehri district’s Gaja, Chaka, Khadi, Tachhla, Fakot, Agrakhaal, Duadhar, Hindolakhal and Vyasi. However, since several of these lights are out of order, the locals and the shopkeepers are unable to benefit from these. Despite the people giving several oral and written complaints, the lights have not yet been repaired. The departmental officials are passing the buck to one another. The district Panchayat officials say that the onus of repairing these lies with UREDA while the UREDA officials put the onus back of district Panchayat.
The local representatives have asked UREDA officials to repair the lights, but to no avail. What is compounding things is that due to the lights remaining defunct for a long time, the expensive batteries of the solar lights are losing power. Villager Sumer Rana said that the people and the pedestrians keep facing problems because of the solar lights not working. We have asked the district administration to decide which one of the two departments is responsible for the maintenance of the solar lights, Vijay Singh, another local, said.