SHILLONG: The water level at the Umiam dam in Meghalaya is at the lowest in history.

This was informed by Meghalaya power minister AT Mondal on Tuesday (May 16).

He also said that the power plant at Umiam in Meghalaya will also get closed if the water level in the reservoir recedes further.

“Water level (at Umiam) is one of the lowest in the history. We are now at 3165 feet, which is the lowest,” said Meghalaya power minister AT Mondal.

The Meghalaya power minister added: “If it goes down by another feet, we will have to shut down Umiam (power plant) also. This is the condition.”

“There is a permissible limit of the water level up to which we can run our units, so if it goes below, naturally we will have to close down the dam,” he said.

However, the Meghalaya power minister expressed hope that the condition will improve in the coming days with the advent of monsoon in the region.

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Meghalaya power minister AT Mondal made this statement after visiting the Umiam dam along with experts from IIT-Guwahati on Tuesday (May 16).

He also informed that the Umiam bridge in Meghalaya will also go retrofitting after assessment and recommendation by experts from IIT-Guwahati.

“We visited Umiam dam. On physical verification everything seems to be ok. There is no problem,” said Meghalaya power minister AT Mondal.

“But still we have decided that IIT should take measures to check the exact status of the bridge using different methods of testing,” he added.

“Based on the recommendations of the experts, we will go for retrofitting of the bridge,” said the Meghalaya power minister.

He also informed that the vehicular traffic will be diverted for a day, which is yet to be decided, as the Umiam bridge will go for retrofitting.