SHILLONG: The suffering of the people of the state due to load shedding is set to increase with the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited deciding to extend the duration from one hour to four hours in different places, including many parts of the state capital.
Come Monday, many areas of north and east Shillong will have to bear with load shedding from midnight to 3 am followed by another hour from 12 noon to 1 pm.
In south and west of the city, the load shedding will be from 3 am to 6 am and again from 1 pm to 2 pm.
In the entire Jaintia Hills, load shedding will be effective from 9 pm till midnight.
In Ri Bhoi, load shedding will be effective from 6 am to 9 am.
Parts of West Garo Hills region will have a three-hour load shedding while other parts of Garo Hills will have load shedding for four hours.
The state government is forced to resort to load shedding since NEEPCO has regulated its power supply to the state owing to unpaid bills amounting to over Rs 550 crore.
A Power department official said some payment has been made and the government is making efforts to clear some more dues.
While Myntdu Leshka and Umtru Hydro Power project s are the only two big power projects to be commissioned in Meghalaya in the last decade or so, there are several others that the government is striving to complete at the earliest.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Limited (MePGCL) is generating power from eight generating stations with total installed capacity of 354.7 MW and generating about 1225.92 million units of energy annually.
There are a few projects which are under construction for capacity addition, including Ganol SHP (22.5 MW) and Riangdo SHP (3MW).
