Around 75 tribal families in seven villages in Coonoor and Kotagiri hope to soon have access to power through solar energy, after the intervention of the Madras High Court.
The residents of Jogi Combai, Sengal Combai, Ojanoor, Mallikorai, Melkorangumedu and Semakorai in Coonoor, and Anilkadu in Kotagiri, had been living without electricity for many years, despite other villages close by getting gradually connected to the power grid. J.R.Mani, a tribal resident of the Nilgiris, and a petitioner in the case, approached the Madras High Court, seeking electricity for all the seven villages.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mani said that he was happy that the court had heard his petition, but stated that he hoped that further efforts would be taken by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) to connect the villages to the electricity grid. “The Nilgiris is a hill station, where solar energy might not always be available due to rainfall and cloud cover. So I feel that a more permanent solution would be getting connected to the traditional electricity grid,” he said.
Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala had ordered that solar panels be installed in the villages to ensure that all homes had electricity.
Arun Kasi, an advocate who filed the Public Interest Litigation on behalf of Mr. Mani, said that some of the villages already had solar panels installed. “However, they were far too inadequate to supply enough electricity to power the homes of residents. We hope that this order will at least ensure that all homes in the seven villages get electricity,” he said.
