By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The perennial problem of power disruption surfaced again with the whole of Garo Hills plunging into darkness from Friday night due to a fault in the transmission line.
Since there is no power project in Garo Hills, power is transmitted through an old 132 KV transmission line from Mawlai in East Khasi Hills.
As the line passes through hilly and jungle terrain in West Khasi Hills and Garo Hills, there is constant disruption of power to Garo Hills. The situation worsens during monsoons coupled with lightning and thunder.
The power went off at 11 pm on Friday and there was no sign of any immediate restoration, according to Tura residents.
When contacted, Power Minister AT Mondal said that there was a problem in the transmission line in East Garo Hills bordering West Khasi Hills.
The technical snag was in the power line at a place in East Garo Hills which is 17 km from West Khasi Hills. The main cause was lightning accompanied by heavy rain, Mondal added.
“We have sent workers to the spot on Saturday morning,” he added.
The Power Minister further said since there was no telephone connectivity in the area he could not contact the workers to know the status of the repair work.
Mondal said that the power would not be restored on Saturday night as the area is very remote.
A senior official with the Power department said that the government’s plan to start the alternate Agya-Nangalbibra transmission line has hit hurdles as the land owners in Assam refused to part with their land for the construction of towers.
If the Agya-Nangalbibra line is set up, the Power department would not have to depend on the present 132 KV line to transmit power to Garo Hills.
“Meghalaya has completed the works on its portion and we are pursuing the matter with the authorities in Assam for the early completion of the Agya-Nangalbibra project,” the official added.