Bhubaneswar: Situated only 25 kilometres away from Bhubaneswar City, the Kandalai village has spent 40 years without electricity. The village under Chhatabar Panchayat is situated adjacent to Chandaka-Dampara Elephant sanctuary. The village was established in 1978 but electricity could not reach the villagers for the last 40 years. Having spent long years in the lap of darkness, the area finally got electricity due to the efforts of the state government and social organisations.
A meeting was organized in the village to celebrate the day which was attended by Ex-M.L.A, Bibhuti Bhusan Balabantaray, Sarpanch of Chhatabar, Sri Bishnu Prasad Deng, Vice-Chairman of Jatni Block, Sri Amiya Prasad Dalai, Chairman, Smt. Banaja Jena, Nayeb Sarpanch, Sri Chaitanya Behera, social activist and Sri Sushanta Sahoo, Gram Pradhan, among others.
The villagers were excited that electricity would not only ease their day-to-day activities to earn their livelihood, it would also enable the children to concentrate on their studies and strive towards a brighter future.
The villagers of Kandalai praised the ASSRA, a social organisation, for its continuous efforts for the development of the village since 2016. The villagers collectively praised the help rendered by ASSRA and the state for development of the area.