Meghalaya is having to bear with several hours of load shedding daily now because “election procedures” made it impossible to spread the cuts over January and February.
Meghalaya had, in 59 out of the 60 Assembly seats, gone to the polls on February 27.
If not for the election, the state would have spread out the load shedding from January, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today.
Speaking to reporters, Sangma said, “We had elections and because of election procedures and many other factors, we could not have the kind of scattered load shedding that we normally have.”
Meghalaya usually has load shedding during the dry season as it is not able to meet demand with its own hydroelectric power plants. This year, the state has also been hurt by shutdowns to central power projects of which it is entitled to a share. On top of that, demand is high nationwide, which has pushed up prices and made it difficult for the cash-strapped Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd to bridge the supply-demand gap by purchasing power as it is forced to pay more on the market than it charges consumers at home.
The light at the end of the tunnel of load shedding will only come if Meghalaya witnesses good rainfall in the coming days and weeks.
