West Bengal seeks cooperation from Assam for electricity to border villages

Residents of three villages near the Bengal-Assam border have been living without electricity, but the West Bengal government has now taken steps to rectify the situation. The villages of Purba Falimari, Chhat Falimari, and Chhit Bara Lalkuthi, home to a combined population of around 10,000 people, will soon have access to electricity.

In January, residents of these villages announced a boycott of the panchayat elections due to their lack of electricity. Following this, officials from the TMC government visited the villages and reassured residents that they were working to provide electricity to the area.

Last month, the chief engineer of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) wrote to the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), requesting to purchase power from them to supply electricity to these villages.

This is not the first time that the two state-run companies have collaborated to provide electricity to a border area. In 2017, a similar agreement was made to provide electricity to a border outpost of the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Cooch Behar district.

The move by the West Bengal government is expected to bring relief to the residents of these villages, who have been living without access to electricity for far too long.