SHILLONG, April 26: The state government is likely to order a probe into alleged theft of power at the Byrnihat Industrial area in Ri Bhoi.
Power Minister, James Sangma told journalists on Monday that the government is considering a departmental or judicial probe since various allegations were made in the recent past about power theft at the area.
Stating that a lot of things have come out of the closet, he said an inquiry will be in the fitness of things since the allegations need a closer inspection.
The Minister assured that action will be taken against any officers if the report of proposed probe reveals their involvement.
He said the department was suffering huge losses due to power theft. Citing an example, he said the cash-strapped Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) suffers losses of around Rs 100 crore every year due to power theft.
He said a number of issues of the MeECL could have been resolved if the problem of power theft had been addressed.
“The salaries of the employees could have been paid and the dues of the generation companies cleared,” the Minister said.
Recently, the MeECL had sought an independent probe into allegations of power theft and corruption in the Byrnihat Industrial area.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary of Power department, MeECL Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Arunkumar Kembhavi said after a vigilance team of the Corporation had on January 12 detected a remote-controlled device installed in M/s Sai Prakash Industries for bypassing the meters, quick action was taken against the industry by way of filing an FIR and serving a provisional compensation bill of Rs 3,48,69,143.
Kembhavi had also said that the MeECL’s major revenue comes from industries and such leakage leads to huge revenue loss to the Corporation.
