Major fire at grid power station in Meghalaya

Shillong, May 31 (IANS) A major fire broke out at a power station in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district on Wednesday, causing damage worth crores, official said. No one was injured.

The fire at the Khliehriat Grid sub-station of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) in Moowakhu was finally doused after two hours of efforts by firefighters, a police official said.

A short-circuit in one of the transformers led to an explosion and ignited the blaze, district police chief Spill Thamar told IANS.

Two 20 MVA and one 5 MVA transformers and breakers, worth nearly Rs 3-4 crore, were damaged by the fire, MeECL official Tinku Marak said, adding it may take a couple of months to restore power in the district and in some villages under West Jaintia Hills following the accident.