Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday informed that the state is currently buying power worth 3 crore every day and if this continues, in the next hundred days the state will be spending an additional Rs 300 crore for electricity supply with the current level of load-shedding.
Citing insufficient rainfall, the CM said that Umiam Dam, which has been a source of Meghalaya’s hydroelectric power, is on the verge of getting shut down. He added that not only Meghalaya, but neighbouring states are also suffering a power scarcity caused by a lack of rain.
Sangma asserted that the government is working to tackle the power problem. “On average, we are spending about Rs 600 crore of state revenue to pay for different expenditures, including the purchase of power from MeECL,” he informed.
Hoping for rain, Sangma said, “We are doing our best to ensure that load shedding does not go beyond this.”
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Sangma explained that the government is working on a long-term resolution to the problem of electricity in the state. He explained, “Solar mission will be one of those measures. It will take time but as we move forward we are hopeful that in the next two to three years we will see more input from solar power.”
He further said that the state government is working on thermal plants and their licensing to resolve the power problem within the next two to four years.
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