SHILLONG, JUL 18: The new Umtru Hydel Electric Project in Ri Bhoi district will ease the power shortage for the state of Meghalaya, which once a power surplus state naw has become a deficits power state, with the generation of 40 MW by December next year it will help the state a lot.
The construction of the Umtru hydel project by the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited was seen being executed with full dedication and commitment during an inspection to the project site conducted by delegation of the fact finding committee (FFC) constituted by the opposition political parties on Friday.
This committee will complete its report within a month on the power scenario in Meghalaya.The committee also decided to submit its report to the NDA led government at the Centre highlighting on the various issues and problems relating to the power sector in the state.
The decision by the opposition political parties to undertake a thorough study and investigation into the power scenario was taken following the recent erratic supply of power which hit the state badly earlier this year.
The delegation was led by United Democratic Party (UDP) working president Jemino Mawthoh and NPP spokesperson James K Sangma. The Rs 461.27 crore new Umtru hydel project was being constructed on the dam of the old Umtru hydel project where in officials informed that the same dam will be facilitating both the old and new projects.
Despite the finalization of the tender was done in December 2007, the construction of the project was however could be started only on January 2009 due to land problem.“The new project is expected to be completed by December 2015,” project additional chief engineer E Sungoh told the delegation.
Though the new Umtru project is also a run of the river project, the additional chief engineer however said, “Unlike Leshka hydel power project with only 350 sq km, the new project has a big catchment area of about 1020 sq km wherein the flow of river is much more here which is quite an advantage for the project even during lean season.”
Stating that earlier it was decided to carry forward the construction new project on the old existing dam, he said, “But later after we tested, the old structure was not safe for construction of the new project as there is lot of water seepage and we decided to construct a new dam.”
According to him, at initial stage of the detail project report, the design flood was designed only for 2400 cubic.“However, when the central water commission (CWC) conducted a review on the design flood, they decided to put it at 3820 cubic,” he added.
Pointing out the observation of the fact finding committee, UDP working president Jemino Mawthoh expressed satisfaction on the progress of work so far as the construction of the Umtru project is concerned.
“With the coming up of the new Umtru project where generation would be around 40MW, I think it will add a lot to the power generation of the state,” Mawthoh stated.
“Going by the inputs from project manager and engineers, we were made to understand that the project will be soon be commissioned by December next year.(SP News)
