Chitwan, May 15

The dream of having electricity in their locality is finally coming true for people living in Madi, Chitwan, after 18 years of waiting.

Though electric poles were erected and wired from Gardi to Bagai in 1998, no more work had been done after that. In 2009, Madi electrification project was also launched, but it failed to come to fruition.

A test transmission of electricity from Chanauli Madi Transmission Centre finally succeeded yesterday, to the joy of locals.

Chanauli Madi Electrification Project Chief Jagadish Chandra Joshi said the area has been electrified with 24 transformers. “We will hand over the project to Nepal Electricity Authority after testing all the transformers within the next ten to twelve days,” he added.

After intense pressure from locals, the project built an underground network of electric wires in Chitwan National Park.

Madi is located about 30 kilometres away from the district headquarters, and is home to over 40,000 people.