Editor,
In 2007 December several power projects were signed between the Government of Meghalaya and several power producing companies. At that time the present chief minister was the Power Minister. None of the projects took off and Meghalaya is now suffering acute power shortage. Nit a single day passes without long hours of power cuts. We the public are out on a limb especially now during the severe winter season when we need to use heaters. And mind you the Power Corporation is not doing us a favour. It is charging for every unit of electricity at a price that is higher than in most other states. This is the festive season and most housewives are busy baking Christmas cakes etc. I know of many ladies who are very upset because power went off just when their cakes were rising. We can imagine how terribly frustrating that is! The only explanation given by the Area Managers is that repair and maintenance works are going on. Surely there must be something really wrong when repair and maintenance work has to be carried out in the same areas day after day because these are the same areas where electricity vanishes on a daily basis for hours together. So who do we hold responsible for these frequent power cuts? The Chief Minister, the Power Minister or the Chairman MeECL? One of them has to answer to the public for the failure of this public utility. They cannot escape scrutiny.
And now when elections are just a few months away we hear of yet some more Memoranda of Agreement (MoA) between the State Government and a company called M/s E Renew Joule Private Limited. I did a back check on this Company and found that the registered address is Singhania House, Polo Hills, Shillong and among the four directors are Vikash Agarwal and Dolly Mary Nongrum. The Company Renew Joule Private Limited was registered at Registrar of Companies Shillong on 04 July, 2017 and is categorised as Company limited by Shares and a Non-Govt company with a paid up capital of Rs one lakh and authorised capital of Rs one lakh. No balance sheet of the company is available online and the date of the last annual general meeting is not known. It is not a listed company
The question I want to ask as a discerning member of the public is whether the MoA can be put up online for a public audit. How can a company registered only this year have the expertise to carry out a power project in the state? Why did the Government not call for expression of interest from the best and credible power producers in the country which have a track record of producing power and are also of national/international repute? Of the All these make us believe that this is yet another attempt to dupe the gullible public of Meghalaya that all will be well in the power sector and that we should stop complaining until April 2018 which is when the first unit of 24 MW at Byrnihat will be commissioned. And will the Government please explain what is “renewable technology?” One of the directors Manojkumar Vasudevbhai Sompura
Is on the board of several companies one of which is Rachna Energy Projects Pvt Ltd, registered at Ahmedabad. Rachna is also a mining and exploration company and is also involved in chemicals.
Power generation is not child’s play and having been bitten in the past (none of the power projects taking off) the Chief Minister should have been more vigilant before announcing that the initiative will unleash a new positive energy. I am not sure what energy we will end up having but for some reason this MoA does not sound right to me.
Yours etc.,
Gordon Kharkongor,
Shillong- 8
