Termination spree amidst record-breaking load-shedding in state
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 12: The state Cabinet on Tuesday terminated agreements with some private parties for the Kynshi-I Hydro Electric Power Project and the Upper Khri Stage-I and Stage-II Projects.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the state government had signed the memorandums of agreement for the two projects years ago.
“However, due to financial non-viability and delay in the implementation of the projects by the companies, the Cabinet made the decision to terminate the projects,” he told reporters.
The government will now move for new partnerships with a new format to implement the projects, Sangma said, adding the projects in the current form are not looking viable.
According to him, the department will soon float an expression of interest in the new form for the projects. The memorandums of agreement for Kynshi and Upper Khri projects were signed in 2007 and 2012 respectively.
Talking about the Kynshi project, Sangma said there were different aspects of technical viability. Even the capacity was reduced to 270 MW, he said.
Asked why the government is cancelling one hydro project after another, he said when the government goes with private parties, the state gets only 12% of the power generated.
“The question is how feasible it is for the state government and the people,” he said.
Some similar projects were scrapped in recent times. The scrapping spree comes at a time when the people in the state have been facing the longest ever spell of load-shedding this year. There is no immediate solution in sight.
Citizens have been bearing the brunt of power cuts for over six months now although the Umiam reservoir is full to the brim and the state is receiving its fair share of rainfall.
It was in March this year when the government resorted to 8-10 hours of load-shedding due to an acute shortage of power. Despite rains in the subsequent months, people in Shillong are still facing power cuts for two hours every day. The situation is worse in rural areas.
The government maintains that during the time of crisis, the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) had taken power from some power-generating companies as part of a swapping deal and when the situation in the state improved, the MeECL started returning the power to them. The process to return the power was supposed to be completed by March.
Apart from the usual load shedding at 12 midnight, there are power cuts multiple times also during the day. The government blamed local fault for power cuts during the day but people wondered if these are indeed local faults, why there is load shedding every single day.
Sangma said all power units in the state are functional. He said the state is generating 4 million units of power every day.
Reacting to a query, he said when the state had no power during December-April, the government took power from some companies. He said the amount of power taken is now being returned.
“Even now, 2 million units are being returned to those companies which gave us power in those tough times,” he said.
Stating that the government changed the model and tied up with NTPC to arrange power in a way that the state does not have to go to extreme power swapping, he said the present swapping will come to an end on September 30.
Making it clear that the government will continue with load shedding for 2-3 hours every day and the timing is not so inconvenient, he said because of this model, the MeECL is earning revenue and the net amount of revenue from sales is now positive in many years.
He felt the present arrangement would reduce the inconvenience of people in March or April next year.
“Rather than 8-9 hours (of load shedding) in March-April, it is better to have 1-2 hours (of load shedding) throughout the year, so we can minimize the inconvenience next year,” he added.