Abdul Rezzaq Mondal, a resident of Purba Falimari village in Cooch Behar district, had to cycle 3km to reach Phailaguri in the Kokrajhar district of Assam to get his cellphone charged.

For the past three weeks, he has, however, been able to charge the phone at his home.

After 77 years of Independence, three villages — Purba Falimari, Chhat Falimari and Boro Lau Kuthi — which are in the Tufanganj subdivision of Cooch Behar district were electrified thanks to a joint effort by the power departments of Bengal and Assam.

“Our villages are in Cooch Behar but we are separated from the rest of the district by two rivers (Raidak and Sankosh). For decades, our elders and we had raised the demand for power supply in our villages. But because of the rivers, the WBSEDCL (West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited) was finding it tough to provide electricity to us,” said Mondal, who is in his early forties.

Although the three villages are separated by rivers from the rest of Cooch Behar district, the hamlets have land connectivity with Assam.

“We visit the neighbouring villages of Assam and markets in Kokrajhar for our daily needs as we don’t need to cross any river,” Mondal said.

Around 10,000 people live in the three villages which have three polling booths with around 4,000 voters.

Officials of the WBSEDCL approached the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) for the electrification of the three Bengal villages.

“It was decided that APDCL would install the power cable network in the villages and we would bear the cost. We paid around ₹2 crore for the work. WBSEDCL will issue power bills to villagers, collect the amounts and pay APDCL that will supply electricity,” said an official of the WBSEDCL.

According to him, the electrification has been done in Purba Falimari and Chhat Falimari and will soon be completed in Boro Laukuthi.

“Two villages have been electrified and the third has been partially electrified. The entire work will complete by next week,” said Mohammad Ansar Alam, the divisional manager of WBSEDCL in Cooch Behar.

The supply of electricity has left the villagers elated.

Some of them had bought solar panels for power but eventually, it didn’t help them much.

“Markets, houses and other places used to plunge into darkness every evening, unlike the villages of Assam which are a few kilometres away. But since last month, the markets and our homes have been glittering. The electricity has also made different household tasks convenient for us,” said Farid Moghul, another villager.

He said the power supply was also helping children study.