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The Rediff Special/Venu Menon

People's power lights the way

Until August 15, 1998, Kadaviri was an area of darkness in the midst of thick, impenetrable jungle. Seventy-eight Tamil-speaking families huddled together, trying to outwit hunger, inclement weather, and wild animals in the fight for survival. Each night they stood vigil over fields of carrot, potato, and garlic to ward off the marauding herds of gaur (Indian bison) and wild boar that come sweeping down the wooded slopes in the wee hours to feast on the crop. Here, farmers lived in dread of waking to the sight of hoof prints and the remains of what were verdant acres of vegetable.

Kadaviri is a strange hybird: a Tamilian settlement that falls within Kerala, but can be reached only via Tamil Nadu. Its exact location on the map is of purely academic interest. In practical terms, the village is in the middle of nowhere. A pocket of poverty obscured by trees, mist, and official apathy.

The nearest hospital is 56 km away, in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The other option is to travel 75 km in the opposite direction, to Munnar in Kerala. And to get to the closest bus stop, you have to trek 12 km over slushy, boulder-ridden jungle tracks -- not exactly conducive to bearing a stretcher.

If you're ill and need to see a doctor, it may be better to stay where you are and hope for the best.

But on Independence Day this year, at least some of this changed. Kadaviri was wired to civilisation. A makeshift turbine roared to life, and the village burst into light.

Electricity had come to Kadaviri. But the Kerala State Electricity Board had had nothing to do with it. It was the people's initiative, under the leadership of a priest, Father Matthew Arackal, that achieved the feat.

The event made a big splash. Local politicians eager to endorse a populist cause converged on the scene. The district collector showed up with a posse of councillors. To make the occasion, he gifted the village a solar-powered television set and dish antenna, a gesture that was rebuffed by circumstance. "While we watched television, the wild boar raided our fields," says Armugam, a resident.

Overnight, Kadaviri had become a noticeable speck on the map. Far away in Trivandrum, KSEB authorities took stock of the situation. The residents of Kadaviri had launched a bold initiative to acquire self-sufficiency in power. That was fine. The place was too remote, anyway, for the board to set up its lines.

But it was a flagrant violation of the law. Here was the catch. The Kerala Electricity Act prohibits private generation and distribution of power. Ergo, private units are illegal. And because they are not subject to scrutiny by the electrical inspectorate, such units are unlikely to observe mandatory safety norms.

This is both the concern and non-concern of the KSEB. "If accidents occur, we will not be liable," an official points out.

Yet, private units are popping up in different parts of the state. A recent example is Pattampara in Kannur district, where privately generated power meets the needs of the local community. Many estates with natural water sources are also known to harness hydro-electric energy on the sly.

The KSEB is in a bind. It cannot provide adequate power to the people, and it also cannot provide a cause for people's power to bear on the problem.

There is consensus among experts that the state should loosen its control on power generation. They are of the view that Kerala should turn to small, mini and micro hydel projects to meet its power requirement. Says R V G Menon, director of the Integrated Rural Technology Centre in Palakkad: "The Electricity Act has to be amended to deregulate generation up to 10 KW and authorise the local bodies to manage the system."

Professor V K Damodaran, ex-officio secretary to the state government and head of the Energy Management Centre at Thiruvanthapuram, recommends the Chinese rural grid system as a viable model for the state.

For the present, however, people's power seems to be the more effective option to light up homes in power-starved Kerala.

The Rediff Specials

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