Customers irate; officers nonchalant
SHILLONG: Residents of Nongrah, Lapalang and Umpling have on an average day about 10 power cuts if not more.
There is power outage every 40-45 minutes throughout the day says, D Pyngrope a resident of Nongrah.
Complaints to the Area Manager fall on deaf ears. Other residents are at their wits end but their Dorbar Shnong does not seem to be concerned with this outrage.
“It’s not as if only the residents of areas known as VIP areas in Shillong are paying their dues. All residents are charged the same amount so why should we tolerate this irresponsibility from the MeECL whose officers and technical staff don’t seem to have any accountability,” said A Lyngdoh a housewife, who earns her livelihood by doing embroidery work, adding that it is difficult for her to complete her assignment since the power supply is so erratic.
And it is not as if this power outage is a recent phenomenon. This has been the fate of the above three localities for the past several years. Each time the residents ask the reason for the power cut they are told it’s due to maintenance. The question is whether maintenance is a daily affair and only in the above three areas.
A group of MLAs who were assigned to study the power scenario in the State have given a very grim report. According to the report the MeECL is at the point of collapse with the state government having to bail it out every year.
This is not how a Corporation should be running said an MLA who was part of the study team.
Several years ago when VS Jafa was Chairman MeSEB he had proposed the privatisation of the Board and several national and international power producers had visited the state then but as usual the loudest protest came from within the Government and the Board itself which would have had to cut its flab by half and retrench all those employees holding superfluous posts. It is this flab which is sucking the lifeblood of the MeECL but which the Corporation has no spine to jettison.
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma while speaking to this reporter earlier on Wednesday said theState must now explore other sources of power generation such as uranium since thermal and hydel power production extracts huge environmental costs.
“We have uranium deposit in the state and should explore the possibility of using it for civil nuclear energy, using state of the art technology. MeECL is bleeding annually and without Government’s fund infusion it would not be able to function. This year we have had to give Rs 80 crore to MeECL. How long can the Corporation depend on the Government for funds?” asked the Chief Minister.
A good question indeed but who will answer this question unless the Government itself starts the restructuring process. This would mean running the Corporation as a public sector organisation capable of being self reliant, with a viable revenue model and accountable to consumers.
On Wednesday the power shut down touched a new low. When the Area Manager in charge of the abovementioned areas (Happy Valley, Nongrah, Lapalang, Umpling etc,) Mr Myrthong was asked the reasons for this repeated power outage, he gave a long list of them from relocating the line from NEHU via Air Force, Upper Shillong to Lad Nongkrem before it is connected to Happy Valley, Lapalang, Umpling etc, to maintenance due to the recent storm. This would make it appear as of storms, thunder and lightning are a new phenomenon requiring some, ‘yet to be invented’ technical expertise.
The question with MeECL is also whether respective IAS officers holding the post of the Chairman MeECL have the bandwidth to figure out electrical engineering jargons without being led up the garden path by the technicians.
When the Chief Minister himself has expressed his desperation about the MeECL the question is what should be done with this top heavy, inefficient, debt-ridden, non-performing organisation. Why should the customer have to pay such a heavy price?