Although situated just 21 kilometres north from Daladale bazaar along the East-West Highway and connected by roads, the chances of the village getting connected with the national transmission grid is still very slim.

However, all the households in the Magar dominated village has been lit by wind power harnessed from two wind turbines that produce 5 Kilo Watts (KW) of electricity each and 24 solar panels generating a total of 2 KW of electricity.

According to Jas Bahadur Ale, chairperson of Hurhure Danda Agricultural Cooperative Organisation, a total of 46 households have directly benefited from the project.

“Although we had had a little trouble generating electricity after suffering from some technical problems during the initial phase, the two windmills have now been running smoothly and harnessing enough wind power to lit up the whole village,” Ale said.

The project initiated by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre under the Environment Ministry with the financial assistance worth Rs 18 million from the Asian Development Bank was handed over to the Cooperative six months ago.

The electricity is supplied from 4am-6am in the morning and 5pm-10pm in the evening and distributed at the rate of 250 watts per household, enabling villagers to light at least four light bulbs, watch television and charge their mobile phones. Each household has to pay a monthly fee amounting to Rs 300 for the power supply. In order to provide uninterrupted power supply, both the wind turbines and solar panels have been installed in the same place.

“Before we used to go to bed early fearing that the fuel in the kerosene lamps will run out and we would have to stay in darkness. However, we have been rid of that compulsion now. Thanks to the uninterrupted power supply, even the children are now able to study till late in the night during their exams,” said 75-year-old local Mohan Singh Lama. A pilot project to harness electricity from wind power was initiated for the first time in the country at Kagbeni, Mustang in 1989.