SHILLONG, July 17: Days after the water level of the Umiam reservoir reached its maximum capacity, the MeECL has finally decided to relax the load-shedding in Shillong, Tura and Jowai to two hours daily. The rest of the state will now have power cuts for five hours. The new timing will come into effect from Tuesday.
MeECL Chairman cum Managing Director, Sanjay Goyal on Monday said, “In the past few weeks, MeECL has been continuously trying to reduce the load-shedding and it was brought down to five hours from July 12 and four hours from July 15 for the urban areas in the state.
“Load-shedding is being slowly lifted, keeping in mind the improvement of water level at Umiam reservoir as well as to sustain the desired water level during the coming winters and until the advent of the next monsoon,” he said.
Goyal also informed that MeECL is returning the advanced banked power to the tune of about 450 million units which was utilized by the state during the winter months and the lean season.
“MeECL is endeavouring that the present schedule of load-shedding is such that it causes minimal inconvenience to the public,” Goyal added.
Recently, the Ri-Bhoi deputy commissioner had issued a notification asking 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.
Meghalaya’s electricity generation relies 100% on hydroelectric power which means that all electricity is generated from water.
The Umiam hydro power project contributes around 25% of the state’s requirement while the Ganol power project, inaugurated recently, contributes around 7%.
