Editor,
The news which appeared in the front page of your paper (ST dated 11.02.2014) is shocking and unbelievable. Shocking in the sense that the outstanding dues to the 10 power companies both private and public sectors have touch a whopping Rs 450 crore which the Government of Meghalaya has to pay. It is unbelievable that the much vaunted Myntdu/Leshka Project could produce only 6 MW of power after spending over Rs 1500 crore i:e more than 250 crore per MW which is the highest in the world and which is not feasible in the first instance. Due to faulty planning and short sighted political leaders who have given clearance to 7 or 8 cement plants in Jaintia Hills there has been a shortfall of 43 MW of power. The State’s electricity requirement would have been sufficient but for the presence of cement factories. Most of the power has been channelized to cement factories located at Jaintia Hills and other factories located at the EPIP centre, Byrnihat. The presence of cement plants and other factories in Meghalaya which are run by outsiders have in no way given employment to the indigenous locals nor contributed to the State exchequer as they came with one intention only – to destroy the land, forest and environment and to claim crores of rupees in the form of transport subsidy etc. They have turned Lukha River blue and killed thousands of fishes in the river. Will some NGOs who claim they are fighting for indigenous peoples rights file RTIs on how many indigenous people are employed in the Cement Plants and how much they are paid? How many crores of rupees they have claimed and received as transport subsidy for destroying the environment and why one bag of cement is sold in Meghalaya at more than Rs 300 where as the cost of cement should have been only Rs 145-150 per bag? Then and only then will the public will know the facts.
As for the shortfall of power, it is not understood why there should be a shortfall at all. Meghalaya is blessed with plenty of mineral deposits like coal, limestone and uranium etc. Meghalaya has a deposit of around 30,000 MT of uranium which can generate around 3,OOO KW and State’s share of power is 12.5 % or 360 KW of free power will be given to the State. So Meghalaya’s power problems will be solved once and for all if uranium is mined. I am sure that the Government of India will take all the precautionary measures as per international standards. After all 35 countries all over the world are mining uranium without any health hazards. The Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues, political parties as well as the NGOs should see reason and rise above political ambitions not to oppose uranium mining without any rhyme or reason. Big cities like Mumbai Delhi Kolkata have no power cuts though they consume more power in the form of fans/AC’s/Cables etc. Meghalaya can produce excess power which it can sell to public/private sector and thereby earn revenue for the State Exchequer and not to go to New Delhi with a begging bowl all the time. Let’s face it, Meghalaya without the Central Government help cannot survive even for two months as there is hardly any revenue generated by the State. Meghalaya is a State rich in minerals but inhabited by poor people and sold by greedy politicians. We need visionary leaders so that the State Government will be self sufficient in power and say goodbye to load shedding.
Yours etc
W C Manna
Shillong-2
Well played Rangdajied!
Editor,
Saturday morning “The Shillong Times” quoted Ashley Westwood (Bengaluru Manager) saying, ” We played against Rangdajied in the Federation Cup where we drew 1-1 and we’ve studied their game in depth.” That put a smile on my face because I just knew that he’s going to be up for one heck of a surprise; and that’s exactly what happened during the game. The visitors prepared for the aerial attacks which never came. Instead they were bombarded with good one touches and even better movements by the host and found themselves down two goals at the half-time whistle. The style of play of the home team has changed to such an extent that even the Goalkeeper was trying short goal kicks to the fullbacks (an appreciative idea even though it didn’t work all the time) something which would have never happened under the old regime. Tactically the new Head-Coach was very impressive even when Bengaluru drew-even he wasn’t fazed a bit, he stood confident in his casual blue jeans and green jacket (an attire less advised for Managers/Coaches) looking calmed and composed. The same could not be said however of the Defence (as a team not just the back-line).It was school-boy defending; to be frank shaky, uncomfortable, indecisive, procrastinating simple decisions a little too much thereby shooting themselves twice in the foot only for Ranty Martins to deliver them with the third goal. The Nigerian was head and shoulders above everyone on Saturday. All in all full marks for Rangdajied for the attacking football and sheer winning desire! However I’m not jumping into the band-wagon just yet for they do need to improve defensively because in football it’s not always possible to win by scoring more goals than the opponents, particularly away from home.
Yours etc.,
Celestine Passah,
Via email