Nearly 25 years after their homes plunged into darkness because of damage to infrastructure by Maoists, 342 families from seven remote villages of insurgency-hit Sukma district in Chhattisgarh are back on the electricity supply grid, officials said.

In the late 1990s, these villages had to bear the brunt of Left-wing extremism with Maoists destroying electricity poles and other infrastructure and depriving the locals of basic facilities.

The seven villages — Dabbakonta, Pidmel, Ekalguda, Duramangu, Tumbangu, Singanpad and Dokpad — were electrified through the conventional source of power supply early this week, said Sukma collector Haris S.

Though some of the houses had access to solar power to light up bulbs and operate a fan, that too was plagued due to maintenance issues, said officials. About 342 families have benefited from electrification, said the collector.