New power lines, roads brighten Eid for Shopian tribal hamlets high in hills

NEW DELHI: Residents of Nai Basti, Chowan, Dunaroo, Mir Mohalla, Khari Mohalla and Dangarpura in Keller block of Shopian district in Jammu & Kashmir feasted on more than the traditional ‘Wazwan (Kashmiri cuisine)’ on Bakrid this year. For the first time in decades, these isolated tribal settlements high in the mountains got a taste of “bijli, paani aur sadak (electricity, water and roads)”, the three basic necessities of civic life, just a few days before the festival, thanks to the Union Territory administration’s ‘Back to Village’ or ‘B2V’, initiative.

In settlements such as Ferrawad and Shadab Kharewa, more than 50 Kms from Srinagar, transformers have been put up and wires are being stringed across undulating mountainous terrains.