Phurpa Lhamo | Wangdue

With Bhutan Power Corporation’s (BPC) project to electrify Domsa, Kamina, Shangta, and Wogay villages in Daga gewog, Wangdue will achieve 100 percent electrification.

The four villages have 19 households.

A highland community in Kazhi gewog, however, doesn’t have electricity connection but BPC’s section officer, Kinzang Tshering, said that people from Baeldo village migrate to Dongkhobji and Baelangdra during winter. Baeldo people own land in Dongkhobji too.

Dongkhobji village with 22 households was electrified last year. 

BPC’s distribution and customer service department in Wangdue completed surveys and have also submitted an estimate of the project.

According to senior divisional manager, Dil Kumar Rasaily, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supported the project with estimate of about Nu 16 million (M). “The tendering and execution work will be done by the distribution construction department. Budget has been approved and work will start in 2021.”

All houses in the four villages lacked grid supply and most houses were connected with solar electric supply.

As part of rural electrification works, 75 houses from Doluwa and Dongkhobji village in Kazhi gewog, and Babchey and Ngaba village in Daga gewog also received electricity connection last year.

Works to electrify the four villages in Daga and Kazhi gewog started in December 2019 and completed in July last year. The Nu 11.185M project was funded by JICA.

This year, as part of their fill-in rural electrification works, more than 30 households will be electrified.

“Rural electrification is already done but there are new houses or some houses were missed during initial electrification,” Kinzang Tshering said.  

BPC officials said they face challenges in procuring materials, procuring private lands when electrifying villages and meeting work deadlines.