Government moots probe into Byrnihat power scam

Newmai News Network
Shillong, Apr 26: The state government of Meghalaya is considering the possibility of an independent inquiry into the Byrnihat power scam which is estimated to have lost the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) around Rs 100 crore per year in revenue.
“With many things that are coming to light recently, the government is seriously considering instituting an inquiry. Let it be departmental inquiry or judicial inquiry...,” Power Minister James K Sangma said on Monday.
He said there is an urgent need for such an inquiry to be instituted as skeletons are coming out of the closest. “There is lots of power theft going on, a lot of loss of revenue of the MeECL not only from power theft but from other practices that involved nepotism. These need a closer inspection and we are seriously contemplating that right now," Sangma added.
The power theft case in the Byrnihat industrial area was unearthed by the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL), Arunkumar Kembhavi during a surprise inspection conducted on January 26.