A view of Umiam lake
Shillong, Jul 1 : A rise in Umiam lake’s water level following rain and increase in Meghalaya’s share of power from the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation projects have prompted the government to temporarily lift power cuts in the state from today.
The decision has come as a godsend to the residents of the state inconvenienced by power cuts for two times a day since February this year.
A power department official said considering the improvement in the water level of the lake, the state’s only source of hydropower, the government had decided to withdraw power cuts for the time being. An increase in Meghalaya’s share of power from various power grids routed by the central government is another reason that prompted the government take the decision. Though the state government has recently decided to lift load shedding during World Cup matches, power cuts were imposed during the rest of the day.
The water level of Umiam lake has increased by 10 feet following continuous rainfall for the past few days.
While the water level now is 3,192 feet, another 28 feet is required for the lake to be full to the brim.
An official of the power department said the decision to lift power cuts was on an experimental basis and a final decision would be taken after assessing the water level of Umiam in the coming days.
The state’s own generation of power at present is 185MW from Umiam hydel project and the central share which the state avails is 130MW.
The much-awaited 126MW Myntdu-Leshka hydel project in Jaintia Hills started in 2004 is yet to be commissioned. The commissioning of even the first unit (42MW) of Leshka project was delayed after frequent floods caused partial damage at the project site. The commissioning of the first unit of the project has been scheduled for December.
In the absence of rainfall, generating power becomes difficult. Though the demand for power in the state is over 600MW, only 315MW is available. Meghalaya on an average spends at least Rs 10 crore a month to purchase power from outside the state. Meghalaya has hydropower potential of nearly 3,000MW, but lack of proper planning and delay in time-bound execution of the project stand in the way of surplus power generation.