SHILLONG: A huge financial relief just before Christmas, Meghalaya’s Water Resources Minister, Metbah Lyngdoh, today announced that the state has received over ₹51 crore from the Government of India (GoI) as the Central Share for ongoing Water Resources projects!
Speaking to the press, Minister Lyngdoh revealed the substantial funding and immediately directed the department to expedite the release of outstanding payments to contractors to avoid further delays in project execution.
“This newly released fund is the first partial payment for ongoing works across the state. As a Christmas cheer, we have received over ₹51 crore from the Government of India, which is the Centre’s share. The state’s 10 percent share amounts to over ₹5 crore,” the Minister stated.
He clarified, “This is only the first installment of the ongoing development works in the state, and not the full and final payment for all projects. This is just the initial part we will see.”
Minister Lyngdoh mentioned that the Centre is likely to release further installments once the current funds are fully utilized, re-emphasizing the instruction to the Water Resources Department to quickly disburse the money to the contractors.
Acknowledging the earlier delays by the Central Government in releasing funds, Lyngdoh admitted to the difficulties but assured that the state had been diligently following up.
“It is difficult to speak about the delays because I took it up myself in November, but prior to that, the department had been trying to obtain the funds from the ministry. However, due to some reasons, they could not release the funds at that time,” he explained.
He expressed optimism about the new commitment from the Centre. “But this time, we see the Government of India, as I said, has the intention to release more funds, and we will ensure this is utilized so that we get the remaining share of the funds,” he added.
Power Minister Directs MeECL to Give Advance Notice for Power Cuts
As Meghalaya ramps up its power distribution system under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which is causing scheduled power interruptions in several areas, Power Minister Metbah Lyngdoh has instructed MeECL to issue advance notifications to local Headmen so citizens can prepare ahead of time for necessary outages.
Addressing the media, Minister Lyngdoh said, “Currently, the power supply is stable, except when there are planned improvements or scheduled shutdowns due to the ongoing RDSS implementation across the state. Therefore, there will be shutdowns here and there.”
He emphasized the new directive, saying, “I have instructed that the information must be conveyed to the head men in advance, so they can prepare. This notice should be given two or three days prior if we have a shutdown in any area or subdivision of the state.”
Minister Metbah highlighted the close collaboration between the Power Department and MeECL to protect consumer interests.
“The power scenario right now, I can say, is that we have good coordination between the corporation and the department. As part of our work, we are coordinating to ensure that the consumers are not affected at any point, whether during peak hours or lean hours,” he stated.
He concluded, “We are working together to make MeECL strong, and what we are today is because of the involvement and coordination from all stakeholders of the Department and the corporation. We are on the right track and working to ensure all works are sorted out.”
