SHILLONG: Power Minister James Sangma has blamed poor road connectivity, among other hurdles, for the slow performing power sector in the region.
Speaking at the inaugural address of the one-day seminar on power scenario in the North East held at the NEC on Friday, the power minister pointed out that it was even difficult to take machineries for repair from project sites because of bad roads.
The minister also cited difficult terrain as a problem to reach to defective transmission lines and “the problem is acute in Assam”. He emphasised the need for capacity building of manpower.
“Most of the engineers in the North East are attuned to hydel power projects whereas expertise in alternative technology is required these days,” he added.
On the financial aspect, Sangma said power distribution companies are making losses and most of the banks are now reluctant to finance the discoms affecting the sector.
The region is one of the lowest power consumption areas in the country with annual consumption at 350 kilowatt hour (kWh) per capita. The All India average is over 1000 kWh. The global average is over 3000 kWh.
Asok Das Gupta, member of the Research Centre for Eastern and North Eastern Regional Studies-Kolkata, in his introductory speech said northeastern states do not contribute even 1 per cent of the energy need in comparison to the whole India. “If this dismal scene is not improved then the North East will remain an energy barren land,” he said.
But the picture was not all bleak and Lt. General (Retd.) J R Mukherjee, PVSM, VP-OPS, mentioned about the potential.
“NE states have a huge potential in the energy sector related to coal, shale oil and biomass. Historically this has not been researched or put to use,” Mukherjee said. The seminar was organised to brainstorm on the sector, the bottlenecks in development and draw an action plan.
The valedictory session concluded with the address of Governor Tathagata Roy who said “hydel power is the answer to the NE states”.
“However, the establishment of the projects must consider ecology fragility of the region,” he added. In his vote of thanks, Major General Arun Roy, VP CENERS-K, said, “The politicians of the NE and the government of various states must concentrate on the issue of reaching power to the remotest corners of their respective states.”
