Itanagar, April 15: For the electrification of remote villages, the Arunachal Pradesh government has launched an ambitious plan to build 50 mini hydropower projects along the border with China.

The villages are facing numerous challenges including poor connectivity due to their mountainous terrain.

Under the ‘Golden Jubilee Border Village Illumination Programme’, these 50 micro, mini and small hydropower projects of 10–100 Kilowatt (KW) capacity are being built at an estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore.

These are stand-alone projects and include localised transmission and distribution components to facilitate essential services to the border villages in one go.

The 50 projects are being implemented in a phased manner and under Phase-I, 17 projects with an installed capacity of 1255 KW are being built at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore.

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Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu said lack of reliable power supply due to limitations in providing grid connectivity to these remote areas is a huge constraint for civilians as well as the border guarding forces deployed in the region.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said these 17 projects located in 11 districts will cover 123 border villages benefitting 10,185 people.

“In addition, 15 establishments of the Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Roads Organisation, covering about 1,800 personnel, will be electrified under these 17 projects,” said Mein, who also holds the charge of the Power Department of Arunachal Pradesh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a visit to Anjaw district on Monday, inaugurated nine of these projects, which have a total capacity of 725 KW. One of these projects, Dichu Nallah (100 KW), is located just along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), near Kibithoo in Anjaw district.

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