About 400 indigenous people of Tripura Palli, a remote village in Chattogram, were elated to have finally gotten electricity in their homes, 47 years after Bangladesh gained independence.

A total of 55 solar panels were installed in the village on Monday.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ruhul Amin said, “In just three weeks, we provided solar power to 55 families. Every family and individual [of the village] was brought under the facility.”

Solar LED lights and sockets to charge cell phones were also provided to the families, Ruhul said

“Residents of this village had to walk to a market to charge their phones before. It would cost Tk 5 per hour,” said Takidon Tripura, a resident of Tripura Polli. “Now we can charge our phones at home. It saves us time and money,” he added.

The remote village in Hathazari upazila's Forhadabad earlier made headlines for child deaths from unknown diseases. At least four children died and 20 were hospitalised with unidentified causes in August 2018.

Following the incident, local administration took measures to improve sanitation and bring electricity in the area. Former environment minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, now a lawmaker in Hathazari, helped secure the necessary budget for the project.

The entire project cost was Tk 9.60 lakh, said the UNO.

He added that the Prime Minister's Office had already allocated a budget for the improvement of sanitation and the installation of tube wells in this remote village.

Sachin Kumar Tripura, head of the village community, said, “Previously, our movements would have to be restricted after dusk. The solar panels have changed that.”

“I am overwhelmed. I cannot express my joys in words,” Sachin said.

He further said that before the solar panels were installed, venomous insects and snakes could come into their homes and bite or attack residents without anyone being able to notice their presence in the dark. “This would happen mostly during monsoon seasons and the earthen lamps hardly helped,” Sachin recalled, adding, “Now the villagers can be free of that menace.”

Sachin also said that the biggest benefit that would come from the supply of electricity was that their children would now be able to study at night.