DOOMDOOMA, Sept 20 - Tea gardens in Tinsukia district have been suffering huge loss of production as well as mechanical break down of machinery due to erratic power supply to the tea gardens by Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL). In a letter written to the General Manager of Dibrugarh Zone UAR of APDCL, Madhurjya Barooah, the Secretary of Assam Branch Indian Tea Association (ABITA) , Zone -1 on Saturday placed day-to-day record of power cuts in several tea gardens of Tinsukia district.
It may be mentioned here that earlier too the ABITA Zone-1 Secretary wrote a letter to the GM of APDCL, UAR, Dibrugarh drawing his attention on the matter. In reply to his letter, the APDCL GM of UAR, Dibrugarh rejected the claim of the ABITA , Zone-1 Secretary stating that power supply to the tea gardens in Tinsukia district was higher than others and hence satisfactory.
But in the letter written on Saturday to the GM of APDCL of UAR, Dibrugarh, the ABITA Zone-1 Secretary tea gardens in large numbers had been facing the burnt of power interruption since the last two months.
Bogapani Tea Estate encountered the highest number of power cuts with 371 and 437 times in the month of July and August respectively followed by Dirak and Namdang tea estates and other gardens like Margherita, Itakhooli, Sri Krishna, Dehing, Tara, Dighulturrung, Thanai, Rongagora, Dikom, Madhubon, Greenwoods etc. Besides, 24 other tea gardens also faced power interruptions in lesser proportions.
The APDCL GM of UAR, Dibrugarh in his letter to ABITA�s Zone-1 Secretary on August 31 last assured to provide 100 percent power supply to the tea gardens as the tea sector was a valued consumer of the APDCL.
