SHILLONG/TURA, July 16: For citizens of the state, a sense of bewilderment has begun to prevail as Meghalaya continues to suffer load-shedding despite the state currently getting more than adequate rainfall and almost all rivers and water bodies currently in spate.
The situation, which is now bordering on the ridiculous, has now become the focus of all talk in the region with residents questioning the continued denial of what is now an essential service. What is worse is that going by the way things are and how relaxed the government seems to the plight of the people, the situation is unlikely to change any time soon.
Taking a swipe at the continued load-shedding, former chief minister and TMC leader, Mukul Sangma said the underlying reason for the unprecedented load-shedding in the state by the MePDCL is a hidden secret, with everyone is bearing the brunt.
“They are leaving it to the mercy of nature while some people in authority with their swelling greed are still treating the crucial organisation as their milch cow despite the hue and cry from all concerned for an independent enquiry pertaining to various alleged irregularities and alleged corruption in the power sector,” said the TMC leader in a social media post.
He further referred to the enquiry report of the committee headed by Justice (retd) RN Mishra which is yet to be made public.
“Has the government decided to ignore the findings of the inquiry report and under whose behest? How many heads will roll for not protecting the interests of the state will be seen in due course of time,” was the cryptic post made by the former CM.
Mukul’s tirade comes after the Ri-Bhoi deputy commissioner asked people living near the Umiam Dam to be cautious as the water level was close to the danger level and could be released at any time. The warning was issued on July 14.
Government sources recently told The Shillong Times that when the state had been going through power crisis for more than two months, a power generating company rescued it by lending power. The condition was that the state will return the same when its own power scenario improves.
Meghalaya, which borrowed around 400 million units of power from the entity, has begun returning it. As such, load shedding will continue for some more time, the sources said.
During that crisis, the state government purchased power at a high rate of around Rs 10 per unit and spent around Rs 3 crore every day.
Meghalaya’s electricity generation relies 100% on hydroelectric power which means that all electricity is generated from water. While it was understandable that a deficiency of rainfall would mean hardships for people, the fact that the region has received an ample supply of water over the past month and half and the power department was still resorting to load shedding of over 8 hours a day – seems inexplicable to most, if not all.
The Umiam hydro power project contributes around 25% of the state’s power requirement while the Ganol power project, inaugurated recently, contributes around 7%.
Citizens are at their wits’ end over the continued power outage they have been facing for over three months.
“You first blamed the lack of rains as the reason for not supplying electricity. Over the past month and half there has been rain in plenty to the extent that the Umiam Dam is overflowing. Now what is the excuse to continue denying us power? There seems to be something extremely fishy with what is happening and someone should look to find out,” said Peterjob A. Sangma.
“They are extremely prompt in shutting down electricity during load shedding hours though sometimes late in restoring it. Seriously, how long do we have to suffer when the rest of the country has no such issues with power? It is really strange that the government has continued to ignore the plight of the people. Something definitely is going on or we would not be in this unprecedented situation,” said another resident, preferring to remain anonymous.
Another resident questioned why states like Punjab and Delhi were able to provide free electricity to its citizens, at least for the first 200 units, while Meghalaya was unable to fulfill the mininum requirement of power despite bills being regularly served and paid by the consumers.
