AGARTALA:
Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura, Jishnu Dev Varma, on July 29, said that his government will soon provide electricity to 80 backward villages in rural hamlets of the state using a micro solar system for which the government would spend Rs 80 crore.
Dev Varma, who is also Power Minister of the state, was addressing the Vidyut Mahotsav organized at Muktadhara Auditorium under the initiative of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited and Power Grid. He claims that his department is modernizing the power sector without increasing the electricity tariffs in the state.
“Already over 50 power substations have been constructed in one and a half years. As a result, electricity problems have been reduced a lot. 62 per cent of the state is covered by forests, this makes it difficult to provide services during the rainy season and our department is working to mitigate the problem as soon as possible,” Dev Varma said.
The Deputy CM said that the department has paid more attention to the electricity system in the state as it is Tripura’s one and only resource.
“And industries should be set up by doing business with this resource. Electricity also plays a major role in boosting the rural economy. So the expenditure is more on electricity,” he said.
Criticizing the previous government, the minister said that only promises were made and no development work was done.
“The present government is giving the utmost priority to the remote areas. The markets have been electrified so that the Jhum cultivators can come to the market and sell their agricultural products. Besides, street lights have been installed on the road so that buyers can come to the market and buy goods,” he said.