TURA, July 5: The High Court of Meghalaya on Wednesday termed the quantum of deficit of power in the state at over 50 per cent as being “completely unacceptable”.
Hearing a PIL filed by social activist Flaming B. Marak on the continued power cuts in the state which in many cases exceeded 12 hours a day, the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, said, “It is possible that because of low rainfall or other problems there is a shortfall for some period and a shortfall which may be not more than 10 per cent of the daily demand. It seems that the shortfall here is more than 50 to 60 per cent of the demand and such a situation cannot be acceptable in this day and age where both business and domestic life almost come to a standstill without the availability of electricity.”
The court referred to an earlier submission by the state government, through its representatives, wherein it was stated that the Meghalaya had a daily requirement of over 200 MW of power while the current production was only 88 MW per day. This was given as the reason for load-shedding as there was deficit in pre monsoon showers.
“Though a status report has been filed by the state, the whole picture is not indicated therein. This petition was filed sometime in May this year and before the monsoon or the pre-monsoon showers had set in. It was the state’s refrain at the time that because of the low pre-monsoon rains and the water level at Umiam having fallen, adequate generation of power was not possible. The state had indicated that with the monsoon setting in and the water level at Umiam rising, much of the problem would have been taken care of,” the court observed.
“In the status report filed on behalf of the State on July 5, some figures have been given indicating the list of essential service providers which are exempt from load-shedding, but the present demand and supply figures have not been indicated, nor has the state detailed the measures adopted to augment the supply of electricity,” it added.
The court directed the government to file a more comprehensive report of the larger picture across the state and providing details pertaining to every district.
“The state will also indicate the measures taken to obtain additional power from the national grid and other sources that are available to reduce the shortfall,” it added.
Going further on the matter, the court asked for a long-term plan for the state.
“The state has to look at small capacity hydroelectric or other forms of electricity generating projects, particularly since the state is endowed with heavy rainfall and enjoys a hilly terrain where small projects may be put up at low cost to cater to the needs of the immediate locality. Indeed, a 10-year or a 20-year plan has to be made out, taking into account the increased demand in future, to ensure that adequate steps are taken either to generate electricity or to purchase or obtain supply thereof from other sources to ensure that, ideally, there is no gap between the demand and the supply,” the court observed.
The matter will next be heard on July 25.
