Umiam Dam on the verge of shutdown: Meghalaya CM. State staring at a blackout?

The water level is at the Dam is at 3,170 ft. It it drops by another 5 feet then the Dam would not be able to generate power. It will

With no rains in sight in Meghalaya, the Umiam Dam that provides maximum power supply to the northeastern state might shut down due to a drop on water level, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said today.

“Umiam Dam is almost at the point of shutdown. We have not received the required level of rainfall for the past few months and the state is likely headed towards more difficult times if the situation continues,” CM Sangma said.

Sharing what the government is doing to ensure that the present level of power supply is maintained, the CM said, “On an average, the government is spending Rs 600 crore for different expenditures including purchase of power. The state is spending Rs 3 crore every day in buying power. If the current situation continues for another 100 days, the state will spend Rs 300 crore in buying power. The power situation is complicated but it is not that the state government is not doing anything”.

The chief minister was responding to a query on the power scenario in the state, and what steps the government is taking to address the issue.

Stating that the government is concerned about the power scenario in the state, the Chief Minister rubbished allegations about him cancelling most of the important power projects in the state when he was the power minister in 2008-2009.

“There were certain projects that were signed during that time, but it was not that we had simply cancelled it. An enquiry was set into the procedure in which it was done, and there were procedural lapses that took place which would have been challenged, audited, and objected and put the state in grave situation. So, while we were concerned about the power situation, procedures need to be followed which were not done,” Sangma said.

The state has been reeling under one of the worst power shortage. Certain parts of Meghalaya are seeing power cuts for as long as 10 hours.

Power Minister A T Mondal had said yesterday that the state government is looking at both short term and long term measures to address the power situation in the state.

“We are planning some short term remedies to cope up with the present scenario. At the same time, we are also working on some long term measures so that in future we are not subjected to such kind of crisis,” the Meghalaya power minister added.
While stating that the demand is increasing at a higher rate in comparison to what is generated, Minister Mondal said that the government is also looking at making some other power projects operational as early as possible. He hoped that these steps would solve the problem.
The Meghalaya power minister said that the power crisis was triggered by the extremely low water level in the Umiam lake owing to deficient rainfall. Minister Mondal said, “The water level of Umiam Dam is at one of the lowest in the history of the Dam. The water level is at 3,170 ft, another 5 feet down means there will be problem.”

The minimum level of water required for power generation at Umiam is 3,164 feet. Built in the early 1960s, the Umiam Reservoir is located about 10 km north of Shillong. The maximum water level of the reservoir is 3,210 feet (978.41m).

The minister said that the state at present has the capacity to generate 1.5 million units or less than that as compared to the requirement of 6.67 million units.

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