The Kalpong Hydro Project generates power from river water; that power pumps drinking water to 15 gram panchayats. When the river ran low, the Electricity Department rationed power to conserve water — removing the power needed to pump the water. Diglipur now gets drinking water once every three days and no one in charge has spotted the flaw.
Since April 8, 2026, Diglipur's Electricity Department has been deliberately rationing power across North Andaman's 15 gram panchayats — not due to equipment failure, but as an official policy to 'conserve water' for the Kalpong Hydro Electric Project, the island's only hydroelectric plant, now limping on a single turbine at 1.2 MW against a peak demand of 45 MW. The water saved by not using power to pump water is then unavailable because there is no power to pump it. Drinking water now arrives once every three days. MP Bishnu Pada Ray has written to the Union Minister demanding five new sub-stations at Ograbraj, Ferrargunj, Wimberlygunj, Aerial Bay, and Panighat — which would presumably need electricity to operate, which would require water, which would require electricity. The government has not yet announced a resolution to this particular riddle.