SHILLONG: Power Minister James Sangma has a matter-of-fact advice for students fretting over load shedding as they prepare for their upcoming examinations — take rest when the lights go off.
The HSSLC and SSLC examinations begin from March 2 and March 4 respectively.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Sangma, however, held out a flicker of hope saying the government is trying its best to find ways and means to ensure that the students are not affected. “During load shedding, we expect our students to take some rest,” he said.
The MeECL resorts to load shedding for two hours from 2 am to 4 am.
Sangma defended the load shedding while stating that it has been scheduled for night to reduce inconvenience of the students.
He said that load shedding is taking place since the state government owes around Rs 1100 crore to different power generating agencies like NEEPCO, NTPC and others.
According to the minister, even NEEPCO is not able to provide power to the government which it used to leaving little option than resort to load shedding.
He also said that government is receiving less power from Kopili power project since one of its units is not functional.
Asked about the pending power projects in the state, he said that bigger ones involve a rigorous process. As for the smaller projects, the government has been able to put things back on track and very soon construction will start, he said.
The state roughly generates around 160-170 MW power during the peak period, Meghalaya produces 15-20 MW surplus power and during lean period, the state becomes a power deficit state.
