Guwahati: As Assam has been facing electricity outages of over 16 hours a day, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday came to the rescue of the state power department that has been drawing flak for erratic power supply across the state.
Addressing a press conference here, Gogoi said, “It is not due to the negligence of the board that the state has been facing power shortage. The disruption is due to collapse of power transmission towers near Jalpaiguri in the Assam-West Bengal border area caused by inclement weather.”
Gogoi also assured the people that the situation is likely to improve by Saturday evening.
“At present, we are facing shortage of 450 MW of power in peak hours and about 260 MW during off peak hours. A deficit in rainfall this year has also compounded the problem as the state’s hydro power projects have failed to produce as per their capacities,” he said.
“We hope the thermal power project at Bongaigaon will be operational by December 2013,” he said. (IANS)