ARENJUNGLA KICHU
Mokokchung Times News
August 9, 2022
The power department under Mokokchung Sub-division lost 41.32 percent of the total electricity drawn or consumed during the financial year 2021–22, according to Er. Achanger Aier, SDO Electrical, Mokokchung Sub-Division.
Talking to Mokokchung Times, he cited a number of problems, including transmission loss, subsidized rates in rural areas, and tampered or faulty meters, as the root cause of the loss in revenue collection.
When asked if consumers’ failure to pay their bills was a problem in Mokokchung, he responded that the Urban Electricity Management Board (UEMB) and Village Electricity Management Board (VEMB) would have a better understanding of those statistics.
What causes load shedding in Mokokchung?
The National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC) is the apex body to ensure integrated operation of the national power system and supervises over the Regional Load Dispatch Centers. It schedules and dispatches electricity among the Regional Load Dispatch Centers. Nagaland, in 2021 got its own State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) which monitors and controls power flow throughout the state.
According to Aier, Nagaland’s power generation is very low and insufficient to meet the power demand and so the state purchases power from different generating plants outside the state through the grid. The State Load Dispatch Center (SLDC) is bound by the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC) regulations i.e to maintain grid stability and in the process SLDC is bound to impose load shedding.
He added that they have done their best to ensure that Mokokchung has minimum load shedding.
He also added that the causes of power cuts can be for many reasons like overvoltage in power lines, severe lightning stroke, aging of conductor, heavy winds, rains, falling of trees on power lines, excessive stress on the conductor, high changes in atmospheric temperature, accident of vehicle with tower or poles, accidental short circuit and so on.
Prepaid Electricity Meter
Regarding the prepaid electricity meter, Aier stated that they are “still working on it” while awaiting the government’s directive with regard to the prepaid power meter that would be made accessible in Mokokchung.
He claims that the prepaid billing method will provide consumers with a number of benefits, including lower rates and no minimum maintenance fees.
“It will also in general encourage judicious use of power, tampering of meters can be avoided, and it will be considerably simpler for consumers to pay while also costing less. All of these will help to further reduce the deficit,” he claimed.
As part of the government’s electricity distribution plan created by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), India’s top power sector planning organization, the central government originally intended to convert all electricity meters into smart prepaid meters by 2022.
Then in 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) worth Rs. 3.03 trillion wherein the Centre’s share will be Rs. 97,631 crore under which deployment of Rs. 25 crores smart prepaid meters for all domestic consumers have been envisaged till March, 2025.
By 2024–2025, the project aims to lower AT & C losses (operational losses due to inefficient power systems) to levels of 12–15 percent across all of India. The scheme aims to close the cost-revenue gap entirely by 2024–2025.
How NERPSIP will aid Mokokchung
Aier believes that a 2×10 MVA Sub Station at Mokokchung Powerhouse, Salangtem Ward, and another 2×5 MVA Sub-Station at IMDH Medical Colony being implemented by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) under the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSlP) is critical to the Mokokchung division because the current 2×10 Mva transformer is gradually becoming overloaded.
“By this year, the current transformer will be saturated, so the new 2×10 MVA project is critical for load sharing,” he said.
He also stated that the new installation will make Mokokchung power more reliable while avoiding unnecessary electrical tripping.
It may be recalled that the central Ministry of Power almost “de-sanctioned” the project when it was delayed because of a problem with land acquisition. The All Ward Union Mokokchung Town helped to resolve the land dispute with the landowner. On October 6, 2021, the State Land Acquisition Authority (SLAA) of Nagaland government approved the purchase of the land.
“I just want the Mokokchung residents to understand that this project is highly important to Mokokchung and that the department requests their cooperation and understanding during the implementation. I simply hope that we won’t have any more difficulties during the implementation because if we delay this time, the project will be abandoned by the center. The project almost got de-sanctioned once,” he concluded.
North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSlP) is a major step towards meeting the national objective of “Power to All” through enhancement in access of consumers to grid connected power supply through improving its availability and reliability, thereby facilitating inclusive growth.
The scheme was approved by the union cabinet chaired by PM Modi for six States (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland) in 2014 to strengthen the Intra State Transmission and Distribution System at an estimated cost of Rs.5111.33 crore including capacity building expenditure of Rs.89 crore.