(originally posted on the PowerCutsIN Blog)

September 16, 2011: This is the house of Mr. Sukhdev from Karcha Village, Banda, Uttar Pradesh where I had a chance  to visit during one of my work visits.

In this report we hear Sukhdev highlight the following key points: [link to report]

1. When the transformer at their village burns out and needs repairing, unless they pool in money to pay to the district electricity department, they do not get a replacement. Which technically seems to be a bribe.
2. The load on these transformers is high since many people use wire tap to the source lines to draw electricity to their homes even without a connection, which adds extra load on the transformer beyond its capacity due to which it fires and goes bad.
3. They have electricity for around 10 hours mostly only during the nights when the transformers are working.
4. Due to electricity, his kids can study during the dark for a couple of hours.
5. Using fans, when there is power helps them to get rid of mosquitoes & diseases caused by them during summers.
6. When there is no electricity during the night its scary because of threat of theft in the village.

You can view the video here with English subtitles below: [YouTube link]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjQIMlqJqyk]