Shillong, Au g 29: Commissioner & Secretary in-charge power department Sanjay Goyal said the department will not resort to power cuts.
Speaking to reporters, Goyal said there is no shortage of power in Meghalaya, and the state is working towards providing 24 hour power supply to its consumers.
“We are comfortable and we are handling our energy management portfolio quite professionally and that is the way we are not adhering to any scheduled loadshedding,” he said.
Goyal said the occasional power disruptions are due to factors such as tree felling and branch uprooting during rains, which damage power poles and conductors.
The power department is undertaking a massive upgradation of its infrastructure, including replacing rusted poles, upgrading transformers, and installing covered conductors besides implementation of new sub stations to reduce power disruptions.
“This is happening in a big way in the state,” Goyal said and requested consumers to bear with the department during scheduled shutdowns, which are necessary for the upgradation work.
“Now we are in the process of upgrading the mobile phones of our consumers and based on that we will try to send the individual SMSs also keeping the areas where this shutdowns or the planned interventions are required,” Goyal said.
The official said that the power department is not differentiating between urban and rural areas in terms of power supply availability. The department aims to provide reliable power supply to all consumers, with some disruptions possible due to unavoidable factors.
The government is also exploring options for renewable energy, including solar power and hydro projects to improve the power generation in the state.
“A detailed project report (DPR) for the second phase of the Leshka project is being prepared and is in its advance stage,” Goyal said, adding that Ganol power project was also added around two years back.
“The department is also working with private developers to set up hydro projects, which will benefit the state with free power availability up to 13%,” he said.
The state is following the resource adequacy plan prepared by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
