'We are not against wildlife we just want electricity': 500 Chhattisgarh villagers write to PM Modi from tiger reserve

RAIPUR: More than 500 residents from 48 villages inside Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve have sent an unusual message to New Delhi: if years of applications could not bring electricity to their homes, perhaps letters written in blood will.

Gathering in a remote forest hamlet, villagers penned appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking reliable power in settlements that continue to depend largely on ageing solar infrastructure.Their villages have solar panels, but not the electricity. Frustrated by years of waiting for conventional power connections, the villagers across eight gram panchayats gathered at Adgadi village in Gariyaband district on Wednesday, wrote hundreds of postcards addressed to PM and the national tiger conservation authority (NTCA), saying they have spent years waiting for reliable electricity and are now left with little option but to make their voices heard in an extraordinary manner.The villages fall within the tiger reserve landscape, where conventional power infrastructure faces regulatory hurdles because of environmental and wildlife protection norms. Residents said solar systems installed years ago are no longer sufficient for growing populations and increasing household needs."We are not against wildlife. We have lived alongside forests for generations. We only want to coexist with dignity and have access to basic facilities like electricity," said one of the organisers.

Villagers said between 700 and 800 letters would be sent to New Delhi.For residents, the issue goes beyond lighting homes. They claim erratic electricity affects children's education, access to healthcare, communication facilities and small livelihood activities. Many households still rely on lanterns or limited solar backup after sunset.The campaign has brought into focus the difficult balance between conservation and development in remote forest settlements.District panchayat member Sanjay Netam, who helped organise the event, said villagers have spent years submitting applications, holding demonstrations and raising the issue before officials. "People here feel they have exhausted every conventional route. This was their way of conveying the urgency of the situation," he said.However, district administration officials maintain that the villages are not entirely without power.Gariyaband collector Bhagwan Uikey told TOI that solar electrification has been available in the tiger reserve villages since 2016-17 and continues to function. He said the demand raised by villagers is for a conventional electricity network, which would require approvals from multiple agencies, including forest, environment and central authorities, chaired by CM and PM."These villages already have solar power. For laying a regular electricity line, approvals from the concerned departments and the Centre are necessary because the area falls within the tiger reserve landscape.

The villagers want conventional electricity," Uikey said.The collector added that increasing population and higher consumption may have reduced the effectiveness of the existing solar systems over time. He said the administration is working to replace batteries and increase the number of solar panels, with improvements expected within the next two weeks.Uikey also pointed to a 2023 Supreme Court direction relating to underground power infrastructure in wildlife-sensitive areas and said any long-term solution would have to comply with applicable conservation norms.Organisers said participants used separate disposable syringes to draw small quantities of blood before writing the postcards, which will be dispatched to the PMO and NTCA through speed post.The letters now travelling to New Delhi carry a plea from some of Chhattisgarh's most remote forest settlements — communities that say they support wildlife conservation, but do not want conservation to come at the cost of basic amenities that much of the country takes for granted.