UDAIPUR, May 21 (TIWN): The severe power shortage would continue in Tripura as Palatana thermal power plant is expected to be ready for operation by June 1 next, official sources confirmed here.As per the schedule, the Palatana unit-I was placed under shut-down for Project Guarantee Test (PGT) till May 27. Now, the OTPC says, the plant would not be ready for operation till June 1 after some faults were detected by BHEL engineers.

In course of preparation for PGT, BHEL engineers have found some faults at the plant which need to be rectified at the earliest, said General Manager of OTPC, Plant Mukul Banerjee over telephone from the project site today.

“We though of resuming power generation from May 27 itself but some technical problems came on the way of the plan. Anyway, BHEL engineers are doing work on war-footing manner to remove all faults before going for mandatory PGT”, he said.

According to him, the PGT would start after completion of preparatory works at the plant site. It means the power situation will continue to remain grim across the state due to suspension of generation at Palatana plant.

To tide over the severe power shortage, the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) has been buying additional power from Central pool-mainly NTPCL.

Despite supply of addition power, the net deficit in power supply in the state stands at 50/55 MW during pick hour. “We are trying our level best to keep the power supply as normal as possible. In spite of the efforts, power deficit is around 50/55 MW prompting us to go for power cut in phases”, said an official of TSECL.

The TSECL, which has been suffering huge loss in the past three consecutive years, has been paying Rs. 50/60 lakh per day to buy additional power from central agencies.