SHILLONG, May 24: The ongoing eight-hour load-shedding in Shillong, which has continued for over two months now with no immediate respite in sight, continues to plague everybody with locals flagging their ever-growing concern and the government keeping its eyes fixed on the sky for rainfall.
The Shillong Times got in touch with a few residents from Shillong who, just like everyone, are bearing the brunt of the confounded load-shedding.
According to the proprietor of a city hospital, a daily expenditure of almost Rs 46,000 is being incurred by the hospital to run the generators in the hospital’s two branches.
“So far, we have spent around Rs 7 lakh just to run these generators due to the load-shedding and these power cuts have affected everyone in the state,” he said.
Echoing similar views, principal of St. Edmund’s School Solomon Morris said that while many activities are taking place at the school, usage of microphones and sound system during load-shedding hours has become mostly impossible, which he added, was important since the school campus is huge.
Stating that everyone in the school seems to be psychologically prepared as they know the load-shedding would take place in the midst of activities, he added that running generators are taking a toll on the finance.
He also added that many a time children’s presentations get hampered due to power cuts.
And there are talks about smart cities when even power cannot be restored in the city, Morris said.
K Verma, who owns a famous eatery in the commercial Police Bazar, said that solution to load-shedding has to be arrived at immediately as the same is plaguing business and tourism.
He also said that he has to cough up hefty amounts every day on running generators.
Like the eatery, there are several other shops in the city that use generators to cope with the load-shedding.
Activist Toki Blah, on the other hand, said that since MeECL depends on rain for electricity, the onus should be on them to purchase the same from outside during dry seasons, and ensure people do not suffer.
Stating that oxygen intake is less in his body, he said there are many who are dependent on generators for health concerns.
“When there is no light, I sit gasping like a fish out of water,” he added.
