Faroz Ahmad

Leh-based environmental NGO, Global Himalayan Expeditions (GHE), has brought cheers to a small habitat of 50 families of villages Dungti near the Line of Actual Control with China by bringing electricity.

The village is home to Tibetan refugees who came to India In 1962 and settled in a few villages on the Lac. They are mostly shepherds and raise pashmina goats. They produce the finest pashmina wool and sell it in the market.

The villagers are eyes and ears of the Indian defence as they are the first to notice the movement of Chinese. They have been guarding the Indian frontiers against China for decades and yet they lived in darkness.

GHE engineering team spent three days in the freezing temperature of minus 25 degree Celsius to work on the project and finally succeeded in bringing power to them on February 4 midnight.

Dungti is the latest of the Ladakh’s remote villages to get electricity with the help of GHE. The group of volunteers has brought hope and power to more than 100 village or hamlets of Ladakh in eight years.

In Dungti, every household has received a solar nano grid with three LED lights and two LED batons along with USB charging facilities.

Dungti now receives 8.6 KW solar power generation setup. This included 10 solar LED street lights to illuminate public spaces.

The GHE team included two Ladakh women engineers. These engineers have been instrumental in providing electricity to more than 50 villages over the last five years.