Five states to light up Durga Puja in Tripura

Five states - Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Mizoram - will supply additional electricity to Tripura during the five-day Durga Puja festival, state Power Minister Manik Dey said here Tuesday.

"The five states would provide 175 MW of power to Tripura during Durga Puja festival beginning Thursday, through the central and regional transmission grids," Dey told reporters.

"Tripura's current peak hour demand of electricity is around 240 MW. During the Durga Puja festival it would go up to over 280 MW. To manage the shortfall, we have to bring power from other states," he said.

The northeastern state generates 113 MW of electricity on its own and gets additional power from other sources.

"To add glitter to Christmas festivities in neighbouring Mizoram and Meghalaya, Tripura would provide power to them in December," the minister added.

Meanwhile, security is being tightened ahead of the Durga Puja festival, a police official said.

Inspector General of Police Nepal Das told IANS: "The Tripura government has asked the Border Security Force authorities to seal the India-Bangladesh border along the state."

Over 20,000 security personnel besides bomb disposal squads, sniffer dogs and quick reaction teams would be deployed in the state during the festival, when over 2,400 community 'pujas' will be organised, Das said.