SHILLONG, April 23: The Meghalaya Trinamool Congress has criticised the state government for the lack of foresight and failure to reform the power sector, resulting in additional hours of load-shedding.
Referring to the recent announcement by the state government to purchase additional power, the TMC’s state vice president, George B. Lyngdoh said it will only meet the requirement for a certain period, prolong the shutdown and lead to losses.
“The daily power cuts have increased from 3-4 hours earlier to 7-8 hours now. Businesses have been hit, the tourism sector is suffering,” he said.
“This prolonged shutdown will also impact the health sector as in the rural areas, medicines are stored in refrigerators to maintain their shelf life,” Lyngdoh said, adding that hospitals and health centres are spending a lot on generators and fuel to ensure regular cooling.
“Many other sectors have also been affected. Who will take responsibility for the losses if the government cannot ensure an adequate power supply? It is time for them to come up with solutions,” he said.
The TMC leader said the government wasted the last five years by not reforming the power sector.
It may be mentioned that Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Saturday said that the ongoing load-shedding will not end soon.
“This crisis will be there,” Tynsong had said, while adding that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had recently held a meeting with the officials of the Power department to introduce some temporary measures.
He termed situation as difficult and unfortunate, while explaining that two-three units of NEEPCO have not been functioning for a month now which is causing this disruption of power supply.
