Shillong, Dec 8: Meghalaya Power Minister Prestone Tynsong on Tuesday said the department is working on options to see if load-sheding can be avoided. Load shedding is usually done in winter season as water level drops in dams, resulting in power production of power.

Talking to reporters after reviewing three important issues of the power department – the installation of smart meters, the project on augmentation Mawlai Sub-station, and the Ganol Mini Hydro Project (GSHP), the Minister said the department has introduced the power swapping system to address the issue of load-shedding.

“We have introduced this system of power swapping…the Government will try whatever we can to address it,” he informed.

Tynsong also stated that the MeECL and the Power department will be working hand in hand so that there is no load-shedding in the coming months.

Smart meters

He further informed that in order to plug the revenue leakage of the department, it is working on installing smart meters which makes it near impossible to tinker with the meters.

“There has to be acceptance since smart metering will help both the Corporation as well as the consumer since no manipulation can be done and there would be no error in the billing system,” he said.

He informed that the work on installation of smart meters is going on and over 15,000 smart meters have already been installed. “I am sure by March 2022 we will be able to install around 1.8 lakh meters in the state,” he added.

He also briefed the media on the meeting of Union Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh with all the Power Ministers of the Northeast. “Yes, we had a meeting in Guwahati last Friday chaired by Power Minister RK Singh and he reviewed the distribution reforms in each and every state… One of the guidelines is that the smart metering system has to be in place to avoid revenue loss,” Tynsong said while adding that the Centre has already set guidelines for the states to be fulfilled by March 2022.

Huge outstanding dues

In addition, Tynsong said the power department has a huge outstanding liability of more than Rs 2,000 crore that has accumulated over a decade and said the state government is working on decreasing it by clearing dues on a monthly basis.

Stating that the MDA government inherited the problem, he said, “Outstanding dues are not less than Rs 2000 crore. This is huge and was inherited over a period of 10-15 years but we are determined to resolve this issue and make sure that the outstanding liability decreases every month.”

Asked if the Government of India covers this aspect under the Atma Nirbhar Scheme, Tynsong said, “That is a different issue… this special scheme is related to outstanding payment towards the supplying companies like NTPC and NEEPCO. This amount is being transferred from GOI to the supplying company and it does not come to us.”

Mawlai sub-station and Ganol Hydro Project

Talking about the project for upgradation of Mawlai sub-station, the power minister said since the previous tender of 2019 has some issues, fresh tender will be called and informed that the funding is from DoNER Ministry.

For the Ganol Small Hydro Project (GSHP) project, he said the government has already set a target of September 2022 to commission the Rs 507.71-crore 21.5 MW Ganol Small Hydro Project (GSHP) project that was conceived way back in 2006.

Tynsong said that the project cost was revised to Rs 507.71 crore from the original proposed estimate which is of Rs 350 crore. “The loan amount is Rs 223.4 crore, while the equity and grant is Rs 54.62 crore and Rs 229.98 crore, respectively,” he said.