TURA: One of the second largest towns in East Garo Hills, Rongjeng, has been without electricity since the last four days with citizens of the town accusing Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited of turning a blind eye to the lingering problem.
“Various complaints, made to the MeECL or even the local linesmen have made no difference to our plight with the local MeECL SDO asking residents to visit the town of Tura to talk with senior officials,” said local student leader R N Sangma.
Locals complain that there has been a series of faults with the line because of the absence of regular maintenance of the main power transformer.
To make matters worse, torrential rains in the past few days have complicated the situation further.
The nearby Darugre area is also facing a similar problem as Rongjeng with intermittent electricity in both the aforementioned places coming only in sporadic bursts.
“When our villagers complained about the faulty line, the MeECL directed us to go to Tura (in WGH about 130 kms away) to take up the matter of the faulty transformer. Linesmen here too are negligent of their work and hardly ever listen to any complaints from anyone. We really don’t know when the mess is going to be cleared,” added J M Sangma, another resident.
The MeECL has been plagued by the lack of proper response to emergencies as well as the repair or replacement of faulty transformers, some of which is said to take over a year to be restored.
