Guwahati:
Assam is facing a severe power crisis after a fall in the generation of power by hydel and thermal power stations. Two transmission towers in neighbouring West Bengal were damaged by a devastating storm, which has also led to the shortage.
The state is facing a shortage of 403 Megawatt (MW) of power with the peak load hour power demand being 1100 MW as against the available 497 MW, official sources said today.
The problem has been further compounded with the damage of transmission towers due to storm last week in Jalpaiguri district in the neighbouring West Bengal that supplies 300 MW power to Assam, the sources said.
The power generating stations in the state have also been affected due to the shortage of gas supply for thermal power stations and less availability of water for the hydel power stations, sources said.
The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has been forced to resort to frequent and prolonged power cuts due to the shortage of power generation, they said.
The situation was likely to improve within a couple of days as work was on to restore the transmission towers. However, the gap between the demand and supply of power would continue to exist till the state received adequate rainfall, sources added.