KOLLAM: There is a village in Kollam district where electricity has not arrived so far. Some 300 families in Rose Mala village on the eastern side of Kollam live in darkness despite the presence of a few solar lamps that hardly give any light. The villagers’ struggle for electricity dates back to half a century.
Rose Mala is situated some 12 km inside the forest area starting from Aryankavu on the Kollam-Thirumangalam National Highway.
The villagers depend on the single bus service by the KSRTC for access to the outside world. “The main problem for electrification is the permission from forest authorities and the lack of funds.
Nine kilometres on the way to the village is under the Thenmala forest division and one kilometre under the Shenthuruni wildlife sanctuary. Permission from the centre has to be obtained to fix posts along the sanctuary area of the route,” says Mr V. Sundaresan, block panchayat member of Rose Mala.
The LDF government had sanctioned Rs 1.26 crore but it was cancelled as the permission was not granted by the forest department.
However, it was finally decided to lay cables three years back with an estimate of Rs 3.45 crore and it is awaiting permission from the centre.
Rose Mala was once a tea estate owned by the British which was later handed over to a private party. The entire 619 acres of land was later procured by the government at the rate of Rs 400 per acre.
