By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 15: Power Minister AT Mondal on Thursday addressed the ongoing power crisis in the plain belts of Garo Hills, particularly in Rajabala, and attributed the outages to infrastructure challenges and right-of-way issues.
His remarks came in the wake of the warnings from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) about a potential public protest outside his residence if the government fails to act.
TMC MLA from Rajabala, Mizanur Rahman Kazi, had alleged that “despite repeated communications to the government, several rural areas continue to reel under prolonged power cuts, with blackouts reportedly lasting up to six days.”
Mondal acknowledged the issues but maintained that some improvement had taken place. “I will request all of you to go to plain areas and ask the consumers whether the situation has improved or not… I am in no denial that there is a problem in Rajabala and also in Phulbari area,” he said.
He pointed out that while voltage and supply had improved in Phulbari, Rajabala continued to suffer due to delays in upgrading a substation sanctioned in 2015. “We could not do that one because of the issues of right of way… the contractor somehow left the work and gone,” he said.
Mondal said he had personally intervened to break the deadlock by engaging with local community leaders. “On my third attempt I could contact the Nokma of Balachanda… I am very thankful to him that he has come to my residence… and the matter is solved now.”
With one substation at Halidiagunj already upgraded and partially supplying Rajabala, Mondal added, “Some improvement is there. And once this Rajabala substation is completed—which we are expecting by August—the problem of that area will be sorted.”
To curb overloading, the power minister proposed a community-led mechanism to regulate the use of electric pumps for cultivation. “There will be a monitoring system through village committees… we will restrict the use of motors at particular points of time,” Mondal said.
He further explained that the Rajabala line currently relies on an outdated network extending from Phulbari. “Even in my own village… is also tagged with that line. So if anything happens, half of Phulbari is also cut off. We have now planned to segregate all these things,” he said.
Defending his position, Mondal stated, “In my area, if I don’t do it, then who will suffer? I myself will suffer… As a state, my lookout is to see from east to west, north to south without leaving any place.”
Urging the residents to support his department’s efforts, Mondal said, “Whenever there is unauthorised connection, please take away those connections. Because if you don’t, there will be overloading on the transformer and the transformer will fail.”
“I am constantly monitoring this work… and I want to put on record to thank the Nokma for agreeing to give the right of way,” he added.