The Ernakulam Assembly constituency has joined the list of totally electrified constituencies in the State though its official declaration here on Tuesday was put off following the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Kerala State Electricity Board sources said that only 43 houses in the constituency did not have electricity connection and all of them were provided power connections by November 15. The constituency comprises Cheranellur panchayat and 27 divisions of the Kochi Corporation.
The efforts to electrify all the homes is part of the mission to declare Kerala a fully electrified State by March 2017. The Electricity Board and the State government are working together to achieve the goal with the Board bearing 50 per cent of the cost of electrification of the homes that need new connections. Development fund from MPs, special development funds, funds from local self-government bodies and funds from the SC/ST department too are used for the total electrification mission.
In Ernakulam constituency area there were a few households that could not even afford to do even their domestic wiring and it was put in place with the help of the Board workers, sources said.
The total electrification mission has faced some hurdles in the coastal and forest area constituencies in the district. But officials are hopeful that they can be overcome. While in areas such as Vypeen there are households without panchayat-allocated house numbers, the communities living in the forest areas of the district pose a different problem.
Areas which are not served by KSEB lines would be provided with solar-powered lighting systems, sources added.
There are a total of 13.13 lakh electricity connections in Ernakulam district comprising domestic, industrial and commercial connections. Of these connections, 5.47 lakh connections are under the Ernakulam circle and the KSEB and 7.66 lakh connections are under the Perumbavoor circle.
It is estimated that 94.4 per cent of the 7.7 million households in Kerala are electrified. The State will spend approximately Rs.174 crore on the mission to achieve total electrification of all the 140 constituencies.
