It has been a year since electricity poles were erected and distribution lines strung across ward 2 of Kumakh Rural Municipality in Salyan, a hill district of Karnali Province, under the government’s full electrification drive.

However, the residents of Kharkhola, Barule, Langeta, Narayantakura, Dandakteri and Ratuwachauna settlements are still waiting for power supply. The locals complain that contractor negligence during the line extension work has left six settlements and around 300 households without electricity.

With no grid connection, families continue to rely on solar lamps, kerosene lanterns and torches. The absence of electricity has also disrupted internet services, affecting online education, digital payments and access to government services.

Sita Oli of Langeta said the sight of poles once raised hopes of relief from darkness, but the promise remains unfulfilled. “Some poles started leaning after landslides last monsoon. We have no idea when electricity will actually come,” she lamented.

The local people were all prepared to light electricity lamps but their dreams have been deferred. Rama Oli, another local, said that she completed internal wiring in her house expecting an early connection, but the wiring has already aged unused. Despite repeated appeals to concerned authorities, she said there has been no response.

Lal Bahadur Rawat, ward member of Kumakh-2, said delays have deprived children of the opportunity to study at night and prevented households with skills from operating cottage industry and small home-based enterprises. “We have continuously pressed the contractor, but nothing has moved,” he said.

Ward chairman Ishwari Shahi said electricity has been restored only in Neta Bazaar and Kainkanda so far. According to him, the contractor has blamed the Nepal Electricity Authority for failing to supply transformers. He said applications have been submitted from the district and provincial levels up to the centre.

While the country has made progress towards electrification, remote hill districts like Salyan still face delays due to contractor inefficiency, leaving communities in darkness.