SHILLONG, April 3: The Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), an ally of the NPP-led MDA coalition, has maintained that it is not concerned about the demand of the UDP for ouster of Power Minister James Sangma and the chairman and managing director of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), but wants an improved power scenario.
“As a part of the MDA, we are worried about the insufficient power supply that hassles people; we are not concerned about speaking against the power minister,” said HSPDP president, KP Pangniang.
Maintaining that blame games will not render any solution, he suggested that efforts should be made to find a sustainable solution.
Pangniang, however, said, “The question of supporting the United Democratic Party (UDP) in its demand to oust the power minister does not arise as we need to hold a meeting with the UDP.”
Maintaining that James is trying his best to handle the situation, he said, “But we want the state government to look into ways to bail the state out of the power crisis and ensure sufficient supply”.
The state has been receiving several notices from power distributing companies such as North Eastern Electric Power Coorporation Limited (NEEPCO) and Power Grid.
Recently, NEEPCO had regulated power supply in the state over non-payment of dues by the MeECL, resulting in an unprecedented 11-hour load-shedding in Shillong.
Albeit the problem was later resolved, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited issued a notice for regulation of 50 MW of power from the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS).
The authorities were informed that the MeECL is yet to clear the dues of Rs. 56.89 crore despite repeated requests. The amount includes Rs. 46.51 crore as dues for over 45 days.