The village in Mon district was finally electrified after 44 years, giving respite to 60 families of the Konyak Naga community.
For years, the village, which was officially recognised in 2002, remained cut off from the rest of the world. There are barely any roads, let alone access to proper internet.
Hope entered in the form of a government school teacher, John Khangnyu who was posted here in 2015.
“I was very surprised to see this village aloof from the world,” John shared.
“Students would move out of the village for higher studies due to darkness, women faced issues using the toilet in the night and all the activities had to be done before dusk.”
In a post on social media, John wrote about the difficulties faced by the villagers, including the lack of electricity, mobile network, improper roads, and insufficient access to health and education.
The post was noticed by John’s Facebook friend and he helped him connect with the Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE), widely known for setting up micro solar grids to electrify the remotest villages of India.
According to GHE’s instructions, John conducted a survey of the village and its electrical needs.
GHE collaborated with the Mon district administration to execute the project under corporate social responsibility, which cost Rs 23,00,000.
A team of 10 people comprising officials, GHE members and engineers travelled for nearly 16 hours from Mon with solar panels and installed the micro grids to light up every house and community places like school and church.