The biggest state run Corporation – the MeECL jumps from crisis to crisis. This is bound to happen when Government is engaged in fire-fighting instead of addressing the problems at the source. The battle of words between the Congress and the MDA Government on this issue has reached a feverish pitch with the former going for a privilege motion against Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma on his allegations that the Congress led government signed bad deals with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which has plunged the state into an irrevocable debt burden for the long term. Now the Engineers’ Union is up in arms against the Corporation and its management. They have spilled the beans on the goings-on in the MeECL which, simply put, is getting from one scam to the next. Mention of a particular firm that has been favoured with supply works for the MeECL and which is charging nearly five times per unit cost for supply of a computer, complete with table and chair. Clearly the tendering norms have been given short shrift here and a firm that is willing to do deals with the MeECL management and/ or the Power Department gets the contract. This does not bode well for the already beleaguered Corporation which is managing the immediate crises through loans etc.
Now the Corporation intends to start another run of the river hydel project with the Wah Umngot as the pivot. But there is already a strong public reaction against this proposal. The Umngot river keeps the plantations in the Ri War area moist and fertile. People have now started growing strawberries which is fetching them an enviable income. Governments fail to get public cooperation for their projects because they don’t consult the public before conceiving such projects, especially those that could have far reaching impacts on people. Damming the River Umngot is comparable to what might happen to India’s North East should the Chinese build dams over the Tsangpo river which flows to India as the Brahmaputra. The science of Hydrology informs that upstream activities always impact those living downstream. A public consultation on this issue would have given the Government a fair idea of the pros and cons of damming the River Umngot apart from displacement of hutments and villages.
The Leshka run-of-the-river project for which over Rs 1300 crore has been invested but which is not yielding electricity commensurate to the investment should have been an eye opener for the Government before it launches a similar project. Sometimes the public is left to wonder as to whether there is a think-tank guiding the present Government or if some high flying, highly-paid consultant is behind these hare-brained projects.