Deep inside the forests of Alluri Sitarama Raju district lies a tiny tribal village called Gudem. The village, under Rompalli Panchayat in Ananthagiri mandal, has just 17 houses and is located about 50 kilometers from the mandal headquarters. Until now, none of these houses had electricity. For decades, the villagers lived in complete darkness, far away from the modern world.
Even though they had repeatedly appealed to the authorities, their problem remained unsolved. About five months ago, the issue reached Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan. Acting on his direction, the Ministry of Power took up the task of providing electricity to Gudem under the Non-PVGY scheme.
With an estimated cost of around 80 lakh rupees, officials installed nearly 10 kilometers of power lines and 217 poles to bring electricity to all 17 houses. In addition to the main supply, solar panels were also set up and connected to a special transformer to ensure stable power.
The work was extremely difficult due to the forest terrain. Power department staff had to carry poles manually and dig through rocky hills to complete the project. Within just 15 days, they finished the entire operation successfully. A small hybrid solar and wind power unit was also installed in the village under the PM Janman scheme at a cost of over 10 lakh rupees.
This is the first time such a mini-grid system has been introduced in a tribal area. Every house in Gudem now has five light bulbs and a fan provided by the government.
For the villagers, this moment is life-changing. Seeing electric lights in their homes for the first time, they celebrated with joy and thanked Pawan Kalyan for bringing light into their lives.