Shillong, May 7: Torrential rain came to the rescue of the battered Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) as the run-of-the-river Myntdu-Leshka Hydel Power Project was able to generate electricity to its maximum.
MeECL is at the receiving end of people’s ire because of the unprecedented power cuts in the state. But nature came to the corporation aid as the 126 MW project in the Jaintia Hills area, which depends on rain, generated power to its maximum Wednesday evening.
“There was heavy rainfall in the area since last night. Consequently, today afternoon, the project was able to generate 70MW, but towards the evening, it generated electricity to its maximum,” an MeECL official informed.
The corporation has often been criticised for the 3×42 MW hydel project from various quarters. The Opposition UDP had also recently demanded for a CBI probe into the escalating cost of the project.
Since February this year, power supply was regulated throughout the state. The corporation had last month declared that there was an “acute shortage of power and the rapid depletion of water at the hydroelectric reservoirs of the state”.
There are at least six major hydel power stations in the state, and the water level in these stations had drastically come down due to the heat and wind. But the rainfall, which has hit the state since the last few days, has come as a major reprieve.
On Tuesday , the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) decided to lift regulation of power to Meghalaya with effect from midnight. The regulation was imposed because of the MeECL failure to pay the pending dues of Rs 379 crore to NEEPCO.
However the state government came to MeECL aid and sanctioned Rs 30 crore to be paid to the NEEPCO and another Rs 20 crore to be paid for another three months. – By Our Reporter
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