SHILLONG, June 10: Rains may have come as a silver lining for Meghalaya, but it is definitely not a harbinger of days free from power blues for the state.
The state continues to reel under the burden of load-shedding, and as such it clamours for more projects to meet its power demands.
Albeit several hydro projects were planned years ago, only a handful of them have been implemented as of now.
In the last 10-15 years, only three power projects — Myntdu Leshka Hydro Electricity Project (MLHEP), New Umtru and the most recent Ganol Hydro power project — were made functional. Nonetheless, these projects have so far been unable to resolve the power crisis. Several hydro power projects were mooted and MoUs were signed with regard to many, but till date, none of these projects have been able to come up due to several reasons.
Asked about the delay in construction of projects, Power Minister AT Mondal said that land acquisition is a one of the biggest problems, while also pointing out that hydro power projects take a long time to be constructed.
In addition, many geological surprises also come up which delays the project, he added.
Citing an example, the minister said that the Atomic Minerals Department (AMD) objected to Kynshi project since some mines were present at the location and re-designing was required.
The government till now has not initiated any project based on thermal, wind, solar energy. Most of the projects are hydro run of the river projects.
However, the Minister said that the government is quite keen on developing wind energy, especially in the southern slope of the state as it believes that strong winds from Bay of Bengal can help Meghalaya in generating wind energy.
