Umiam water level improves

SHILLONG, June 11: The water level of the Umiam Lake has risen, thanks to the abundance of rainfall in the past few days. The water level recorded at Umiam Hydro Electric Power Station Stage-I at 4 pm on Sunday was 3170.34 ft, a marked improvement from the recorded level of 3166.43 ft on Saturday and 3164.95 ft on Friday.
Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal on May 17 has said that the water level of the Umiam reservoir had reached a historic low of 3165 ft. The maximum level of the water is 3220 ft.
He had cautioned that there is a permissible limit for the water level required to operate the power units adding that Umiam hydroelectric project will need to be shut down if the water level continues to decline.
The Meghalaya government has been resorting to 8-10 hours of load-shedding following the depletion of the Umiam water level.
Meanwhile, newly-elected Leader of Opposition (LO), Ronnie V. Lyngdoh on Sunday called on various political parties to end the blame game and come together to find a permanent solution to the annual power crisis in the state.
“It is high time we put our heads together since the power crisis has remained unresolved for the past many years. We cannot blame the previous governments or leave it only to the incumbent government to find out a solution to this problem,” Lyngdoh said.
“We need to explore other sources of power generation since we cannot depend entirely on hydro electricity projects. It is good to hear the Power Minister talk about the idea of developing thermal plants,” Lyngdoh said.
The LO expressed confidence that Power Minister AT Mondal would be able to bring in much-needed changes since he had held this portfolio earlier.