From darkness to dignity: Solar power lights up India’s first polling booth in border village Simari

Jammu: High in the rugged Karnah Valley of Kashmir, the border village of Simari has lived in the shadow of both beauty and hardship.

Nestled along the Line of Control, its modest homes sit so close to Pakistan that many are visible from across the border. Yet, for all its remoteness and vulnerability, Simari holds a place of quiet national pride—it is home to Polling Booth No. 1 of the Republic of India, a living emblem of democracy reaching even the farthest, most sensitive frontiers.

Under the Indian Army’s Operation ‘Sadbhavana’, in collaboration with Pune-based NGO Aseem Foundation, a transformative initiative has brought solar power to every home in Simari.

The project marks a turning point—not just in infrastructure, but in spirit.

For generations, the idea of progress remained elusive. Darkness was not just a metaphor but a daily reality.

With no consistent electricity supply, families relied on kerosene lamps and firewood to light their homes and cook meals.

Children strained their eyes in the dim twilight to study, while village life ground to a halt with every power cut.

Despite the resilience of its people, the struggle for something as basic as light cast a long shadow over hope.

Crucially, the shift is sustainable. Engineers from Aseem Foundation have trained local youth in maintaining the system, embedding a culture of self-reliance in a place too often left out of progress.

Yet, this project is more than an engineering feat—it is a tribute to courage.

Dedicated to the memory of Colonel Santosh Mahadik, Shaurya Chakra (Posthumous), the initiative honours a man who gave his life fighting terrorists in Kupwara in 2015. Known for his fearless leadership and deep love for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Col Mahadik’s legacy now pulses through the wires and lights of Simari.

In a ceremony both solemn and stirring, his mother, Indira Mahadik, will inaugurate the solar grid alongside the Commander of Tangdhar Brigade and the Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara.

Together, they will do more than flick a switch—they will connect sacrifice with service, and remembrance with renewal.

Four newly installed solar micro-grids now bind the village in a loop of clean, uninterrupted electricity. Each cluster, equipped with high-efficiency solar panels, inverters, and battery banks, delivers round-the-clock power to homes that had never known such reliability.

The 53 households that shelter Simari’s 347 residents now bask in the steady glow of LED lights.

Power sockets work safely, protected by built-in limiters, and kitchens have turned healthier with the introduction of LPG stoves, ending the dependence on firewood. The air is clearer, the workload lighter, and the forests a little safer. Now, Simari is no longer just a village at the edge of a map. It is a testament to what’s possible when compassion, innovation, and resolve converge.