SHILLONG, March 31: The Meghalaya government is aiming to strengthen the power transmission and distribution network across the state, with mapping already completed and several substations in the pipeline.
“The Chief Minister has agreed to sanction a number of substations from the state fund because for proper distribution of power, just having power and electricity won’t do but the distribution network also has to be good enough,” Power minister AT Mondol told media persons on Monday.
“Somewhere, the distribution lines are stretched 70 km with only one substation and if something happens in that substation, the entire stretch will suffer,” he said, adding that “We have mapped entire Meghalaya and based on need, we will go for a new 33/11KV substation distribution network so that electricity is equally distributed.”
Referring to rapid urbanisation and resultant increase in the demand for power, he said the department is working to upgrade the substations. He said it is upgrading the Mawlai substation which caters to the needs of around 60 per cent of consumers in Shillong.
“We are going to upgrade the NEHU substation. We want the new township at Mawkhanu to have a substation before it comes up. We have proposed one substation there,” Mondal said.
Stating that the demand for power is also increasing in Tura, he said the department will install two new substations – one at Danakgre and the other at MTC building Dakopgre.
He also said that the Tura Civil Hospital will be provided a dedicated line on a pilot basis to ensure 24×7 power availability. In this regard, the Cabinet has decided to allot land belonging to the Sericulture department to the Power department for the necessary setup.
Asserting that while all efforts are on for the smooth functioning of the department, he said at the end of the day, these are machines and therefore, it cannot be said there will never be a technical failure.
He said if one unit of Leshka project goes down, the state will have a deficit of 42 megawatts of power.
“We will always have the challenge. Unless we generate more power, we won’t be able to supplement the demands,” he added.