By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Concerned over the frequent disruption of power in Garo Hills, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma assured the House on Wednesday that steps will be taken for the early completion of Agia- Nangalbibra alternate line and also to start the work of Ganol power project.
Giving a suo moto statement on the disruption of power in Garo Hills on March 19 evening, Dr Sangma said that at around 6:18 PM on Tuesday, the power supply to the Garo Hills region
through the 132 KV Mawngap, Nongalbibra line had failed.
“Immediately thereafter, the MeECL officers and staff swung into action, and after the fault locator was utilised, it was found that the fault was on the Nongstoin-Nangalbibra sector, 18.5 km away from Nongstoin,” Dr Sangma said.
The fault was located at tower location 204 at Wahlyngdoh area where a jumper was found to have burnt out.
According to the Chief Minister, a team was then sent from Nongstoin immediately after the location of the fault was confirmed. He said repair works immediately began in spite of the adverse condition because of
the darkness and the work was finally completed at 1:27 AM on Wednesday.
The line was subsequently charged and power was restored at 2:04 AM on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister said that there are a number of constraints which create difficulties for the MeECL in ensuring uninterrupted power supply to Garo Hills.
The existing 132 KV Mawngap-Nangalbibra line commissioned in 1982 is an old one.
“The line passes through forests and difficult terrain which are not habited and inhospitable, which makes work very difficult for the operation and maintenance teams,” Dr Sangma said.
The load growth in the Garo Hills has increased substantially, being about 50-60 MW at present, Dr Sangma said, adding that preventive maintenance is not possible too frequently because the line is the only means of feeding power to Garo Hills.
“Since maintenance requires the power supply to be disrupted, such preventive maintenance also
needs to be balance and moderated,” Dr Sangma said.
According to the Chief Minister, the only alternate would be the early completion of Agia-Nangal line and the Ganol hydel project, for which steps have been taken by Government.