Over the years, Bhutan has made great strides in supplying grid electricity to most parts of rural Bhutan. However, there are still some far-flung places, which are devoid of power supply. One such place is Tingzirbi in Dechhenling Gewog under Pema Gatshel. It is a place where the people of Laishingri village do farming and spend more than half of the year there.
About 10 families of Laishingri village engage in agricultural works at their farmlands in Tingzirbi. That is because the fields near their homes have been morphed into orange orchards.
Since the place is not connected by a road, villagers spend almost seven hours in a day, going there and returning home.
Therefore, they have erected makeshift huts at their farms and spend the entire farming season, which begins in March and ends by October there. This has been like a tradition for many decades now.
But without electricity, they have to endure a lot of hardships.
They prepare meals on the traditional stove using firewood. When the cell phone’s battery is down, they rush to their village to recharge it. At night, they have to burn the midnight candles. And all these are cumbersome.
“We go back to our village to charge our phones. Even today, I went to Telung early in the morning. We face lots of problems here. We need electricity here,” says one of the farmers, Sangay.
His predicament was echoed by his farming mates.
“During the day time, we depend on sun rays to light up our huts. At night, we have to use torches, which hurt our eyes. If we receive electricity, many problems will be solved and we can ward off wild animals too,” adds another farmer, Tshundu Dorji.
Others also say that electricity will play a vital role in addressing human-wildlife conflict. But their hopes are not likely to transform into reality anytime soon.
“Before supplying electricity, they must construct better houses than today. For that, we need to construct the road first. So, we will make sure that the road is constructed first and then think of electricity accessibility there,” explains Dechhenling Gup, Jimba Phuntsho.
On this, farmers say as long as they are provided with electricity and roads, they don’t mind waiting.
Thinley Dorji, Pema Gatshel
Edited by Pema Lhaden
