SHILLONG: In a refreshing break from the tradition of political parties in India, opposition parties in Meghalaya have decided to take the constructive step of studying the reasons for the acute shortage of power in the State.
Five political parties – BJP, UDP, HSPDP, KHNAM and NPP – have decided to constitute a fact-finding team to find out the problems that have turned Meghalaya into a power starved State, besides the reasons for the acute shortage of power in the State.
The decision to constitute the fact-finding team was taken at a meeting of political parties conducted by the UDP in the city to discuss the on-going power scenario in the State. The UDP had tried to give the meeting an all-party character, also inviting Congress to it. But neither Congress nor its ally NCP attended.
UDP working president Jemino Mawthoh would be the chairman of the committee while NPP leader James Sangma would be the secretary. The members of the committee would include two representatives each of the five political parties that attended the meeting held during the day.
“The fact-finding team will conduct spot inspection of different power projects that are being taken up in Meghalaya besides finding out the reasons which have led to the prevailing power scenario in the state,” Mawthoh told newsmen after the meeting.
The report of the team would be made public so that people would know about the reality of the power scenario in the State, he informed.
Different political parties who attended the meeting during the day were unanimous in demanding a CBI probe into the controversial Myntdu Leshka Hydro Power project besides asking for a white paper from the Government on the actual power scenario in the State.
The parties also asked for an immediate revamp of the MeECL, saying that the Corporation should be run by experts and professionals.
While stating that the ongoing load shedding was unprecedented and unacceptable, Mawthoh said that the decision to pay Rs. 30 crore to NEEPCO and the fact that MLHEP was generating 126 MW of power were just a stopgap arrangement.
The political parties also expressed concern that many consumers had received electricity bills quite late which often put a huge financial burden on them to clear the bills.