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The electric power station located at old Minister’s Hill in Kohima. (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Nov.13 (EMN): The department of Power said on Wednesday that it will make special arrangements, including purchase of electricity from other states if necessary, to ensure that the citizens do not face power cut during the 10-day Hornbill Festival which will begin on December 1. The engineer-in-chief, department of Power, Kohima stated that the department is fully prepared for the upcoming festival.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the engineer-in-chief informed that the Kohima town power supply is looked after by the executive engineer of Kohima electricity division along with the executive engineer of the transmission division, headed by him. He added the department has two chief engineers -- transmission and generation, and distribution and revenue.
There is an executive engineer in all the districts of Nagaland except in Longleng, he said, adding that Kohima has got a 48 MVA transformer capacity which is sufficient for town and the adjourning areas.
On precautionary measures the department has taken to avoid power cuts, he informed that they had to cut down trees, especially in jungles, to ensure that it does not fall and damage the electric poles. “If demand is higher than the supply, then we have to shut down power from area to area at times and distribute equally to all the areas,” he said.
“During students’ exam season, the requirement is higher and therefore we buy power from outside (the state) to meet the demands,” he said. He informed that electricity is bought from Interstate Generating Stations (ISGS) of Assam, Meghalaya and other states. “But if it is not enough, then they buy from power exchange,” he added.
The engineer-in-chief urged the public to cooperate, take precautions and use only what is needed to avoid power cuts.
He mentioned that there is shortage of manpower in the department due to huge increase in the number of consumers and new power infrastructure.
“The existing staff is finding it hard to cope with the increased number of consumer demands and infrastructure to give stability,” he said. “The length of lines and the number of sub-station has increased but the number of staff remains constant.”
Owing to the need for more manpower, he said that the department has proposed it to the concerned authorities and is keeping in touch with the government.
He said that electricity is the most essential commodity for everyone and therefore he has requested the citizens to use and pay their electricity bill honestly so that the department can function smoothly. “All concerned citizens should give importance to the power sector,” he appealed.
