Meghalaya's Amlarem plunges into darkness: Rymbui slams power woes, govt assures upgrade

Candlelight dinners may be a luxury for city residents, but in Amlarem — a subdivision in West Jaintia Hills district near the Bangladesh border — they have become a daily compulsion, UDP legislator and former home minister Lahkmen Rymbui told the Assembly on Wednesday while raising concerns over the acute power shortage in his constituency.

Rymbui pointed out that despite housing two major power projects, Lakroh and Leshka, the people of Amlarem continue to suffer frequent outages, and he urged the government to take urgent measures to ease the crisis.

Responding to the issue, Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal acknowledged the challenges and assured that corrective measures were underway. He explained that much of Amlarem subdivision and the Bakur–Dawki–Darrang belt face disruptions due to heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and strong winds, which often snap conductors and bring down trees on power lines running through plantations of betel nut, banana, bamboo, and other vegetation.

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Mondal further informed that planned shutdowns are being undertaken to facilitate system upgrades under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and LR projects. Currently, 16 linemen and jugalis are deployed in Amlarem subdivision to attend breakdowns and restore supply at the earliest.

The minister also said that the Syndai sub-station would soon be sanctioned to ease the crisis in Amlarem, while assuring that power problems in Rajabala constituency in West Garo Hills district would be resolved within the year with the operationalisation of a new sub-station.