SHILLONG/ ITANAGAR, Oct 11:Minister, Power, Industry etc, Tamiyo Taga today made a special request to his Assam counterpart seeking cooperation to develop Arunachal’s hydropower potential with a vision of regional and national interest.

He also appealed people not to raise issues of downstream impact without understanding the Impact Assessment Appraisals and Redressal schemes.

Taga was speaking at the 18^th North Eastern Regional Power Committee (NERPC) meeting on Wednesday at Shillong. The meeting was also attended by Chief Engineer (P) Transmission, Planning and Monitoring, Er Anong Perme besides other senior Engineers of the Power Department.

In his address to the Regional Forum for Power sector, Taga stressed upon some important issues before the Regional constituents to dwell upon and find ways to expedite resolving the issues.

Comprehensive scheme for development of Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh, sanctioned by Goverment of India, with a project cost of Rs.3200.00 crores was handed over to the Power Grid Corporation of India for execution with a trust of completing the projectin 4 years of time.

‘However, no activities have taken place on the field anywhere in the state even after three years. Despite having their expertise and experience in the state of constructing transmission lines, the Corporation is trailing much behind the expected level of performance. Because of this delay in development of the much needed 132KV State Grid, upcoming Hydro Electric projects under State Sector have been put on hold,’ said the Minister.

Both Dikshi Hydro Electric Project (24MW) in West Kameng District and Palsi HEP (24MW) are in the advance stages of completion, but due to this delay the developers have been forced to halt their works. The Transmission line from Khupi to Tenga/Rupa (about 19KM stretch) and Aalo Yingkiong and Tuting is critically important, Taga informed the house.

The Minister impressed upon the Power Grid, a constituent of NERPC, to take up the execution of these works without further delay. ‘Completion of the comprehensive scheme shall be a game changer for overall development of the state, being the backbone of the State Grid,’ Taga said.

Informing of the state’s hydropower potential, he made a special request to his Assam counterpart to cooperate with Arunachal with a vision of regional and national interest.

‘On the Chinese side of River Brahmaputra, China has developed mega hydro projects and we should also think seriously about it,’ he said stressing upon the necessity to make use of its potential in India as well at the earliest possible.

On the transmission cost of electricity, Taga, expressed his worries that present method of transmission cost is complex and complicated.

‘It has been learnt that transmission cost of Power Grid becomes unaffordable if purchased from a longer distance,’ he said opining that cost of electricity transmission within the country should have been same irrespective of distance and direction. He suggested that the cost of electricity transmission be made analogous to Postage Stamp per unit basis.

The meeting was attended by Power Ministers from Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland beside senior officers of NERPC, NERLDC and State Governments of NE Region. All senior officials of CPSUs, State Power Sector Utilities and other stake holders in the Region also attended the meeting.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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