Respite from load-shedding likely this year

SHILLONG, April 24: The people of the state are likely to get respite from load shedding this year if the onset of monsoon is on time.
Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) CMD, Sanjay Goyal on Wednesday said the state’s power scenario at present is quite comfortable.
He said the corporation has not scheduled any load shedding at present.
“We have tried to maintain the optimum level of the Umiam by managing its generation effectively. If the rains are on time, by the last week of May or the first week of June, then we should be quite comfortable as far as our power scenario is concerned,” Goyal said.
Asked about complaints of people experiencing immediate power tripping whenever there is heavy rainfall or a storm, he said one needs to understand the mechanism by which they maintain their distribution set-up.
According to him, the tripping of power could be due to the falling of trees and branches or the snapping of the wire due to storm-like conditions.
The CMD of MeECL said they have a protection system if there are such cases in the substations where the system trips whenever any foreign particles fall on the power line.
“When we activate the system, again, we need to patrol the line to ensure that the obstruction, which touched the line, has been removed, or if there is any other reason for which the line has tripped,” Goyal said.
He said they decide on tripping electricity for human safety also.
Stating that there are lightning areas, Goyal said a lot of MeECL transformers got damaged when a storm hit the Ri-Bhoi and the West Khasi Hills region.
“So, when lightning strikes beyond a certain range, we replace the transformers in those cases. These things take time,” he said.