Help Assam overcome power crisis: State minister to centre

Assam Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi Sunday asked the BJP-led central government to restore the state's power supply as before May 26, and appealed to union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, from Assam, to follow up on the issue.

Addressing media persons here, Bordoloi said the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) May 26 restricted the ER-NER corridor from 720 MW to 500 MW, on which the state was solely dependent for power, when the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath.

"Assam and other northeastern states are reeling under a severe power crisis at present. This situation was created as most of the hydel power projects like Kopili have been closed for the last four months due to technical problems," he said.

"The Pallatana power project in Tripura is also closed for maintenance since May 17. We were solely dependent on the power supply through the ER-NER grid corridor," he said.

The sudden restriction of power on the grid corridor has severely affected Assam and the other northeastern states, Bordoloi said.

"The state has been facing a shortage of around 55 percent of power during peak hours. The hot weather and rising temperatures have shot up our demand by about 20 percent."

"We have appealed to the central government to maintain the status quo, which was there before May 26. However, we have not received any response so far," he said.

Congratulating Sonowal, who was elected from the state, on his appointment as union minister, Bordoloi said he has requested the minister to take up the issue with the central government.