No end in sight to load-shedding woes

SHILLONG: It has been more than 15 days that the people of the state are bearing the brunt of load-shedding, but till now there is no word from the government on how long the residents of the state will have to continue to suffer.
The duration of load-shedding is one hour in urban areas while in rural areas it is much longer.
Speaking to The Shillong Times recently, Power Minister James Sangma said that the government was trying to take a few steps and measures to ensure regular power supply to the people of the state.
“We are trying to sort out the situation,” Sangma said.
It may be mentioned that the Meghalaya government would have to shell out a whopping Rs 550 crore to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) for the PSU to resume power supply to the state.
The regulation of power supply from NEEPCO to Meghalaya has forced Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) to resort to load-shedding.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma reviewed the situation in a meeting on Monday and discussed ways to clear the dues of NEEPCO to ensure that there is no load-shedding. The Power Department also had a meeting to discuss the issue.
It may be mentioned that NEEPCO on an average supplies around 145-155 MW of power to Meghalaya.
However, since the dues of Meghalaya government have mounted, NEEPCO recently regulated power supply to the state.