Power cuts due to shortage of manpower, non-availability of materials: APDCL

A Correspondent

JORHAT: “Non-availability of materials and shortage of manpower leads to frequent power cuts and load shedding. The people of Jorhat need to have patience as our technical team is working round-the-clock to address the problem of power cuts,” said Bijoy Bordoloi, the chief engineer of Assam Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APDCL), while addressing media persons at the Bidyut Bhavan conference hall in Jorhat on Monday.

The APDCL chief engineer said that four sub-stations were needed for stabilizing the load during the peak hours for the district of Jorhat. Due to the shortage of manpower and slow process of supply of materials to upgrade the transformers, load shedding was taking place but the consumers should cooperate. He also expressed concern over power thefts, both in rural and urban areas, with certain consumers utilizing power beyond their allotted amount.

“APDCL has nearly 20,000 employees and it is totally dependent on the revenue we get from our customers. When departments like Public Health Engineering (PHE), Assam Tea Corporation Limited and Public Works Department (PWD) are yet to pay the outstanding electricity bill of around Rs 1 crore, how can we purchase materials to run the ongoing sub-stations?” said Bordoloi.

He added, “Moreover, we are facing shortage of land to place several sub-stations as the district administrations of Jorhat and Majuli have not been able to allot us government.”

APDCL officials who were present included Polakh Jyost Mahanta, deputy manager, and Abu Nasim, deputy general manager.

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