Mysuru: After eight days of protest and a woman’s plea seeking mercy killing, the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) has provided electricity connections to all households in Medaganane, a tribal hamlet, under the MM Hills GP in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district.Residents of Medaganane had been staging a protest for the past eight days, demanding electricity. The issue gained wider attention last Tuesday when Kempamma, a resident of the hamlet, wrote to chief minister Siddaramaiah seeking mercy killing, highlighting the lack of basic facilities.“We have been living like wild animals without basic amenities. Even after 79 years of Independence, we have not seen electricity, and there are no proper roads. We move around in rocky terrain. Officials have been delaying the electricity connection. Either give us electricity or grant us mercy killing,” Kempamma wrote in her letter to the CM.During his visit to Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Sept 2023, CM Siddaramaiah was urged by the district administration to facilitate electricity connections to 31 hamlets in the region.According to locals, wiring and related infrastructure work in Medaganane was put in place nearly a year ago. However, delays in obtaining clearance from the forest department stalled the connection. Following intervention from the chief minister’s office, electricity was finally supplied to the hamlet on Friday.Expressing her concerns, Kempamma said: “We don’t have drinking water, and the roads are in poor condition. We protested for eight days. It is better to die than to live like this. Elephants trouble us, and even tigers and wolves come here. We informed everyone, but nothing happened. I wrote the letter hoping that if the chief minister intervenes, something would be done.”Sources confirmed that although infrastructure work was completed earlier, electricity connections were not provided until recently. “The villagers finally received power three days ago,” locals said.MM Hills panchayat development officer Kiran Kumar S S said about 31 families reside in the hamlet, and they have now been provided with electricity connections.
