E-Paper
Over 1200 smart meters in Lko damaged due to lightning
Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad blames poor quality, UPPCL seeks report from all over state
Lucknow More than 1200 smart meters have been damaged in the city due to lightning during the heavy rainfall on September 11. Consequently, the consumers of Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) are upset due to outage owing to faulty meters. Maximum complaints of smart meter malfunction were registered in Utrethia subdivision. However, the number of faulty smart meters in the capital is said to be more than 3,000. The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation has called for reports from the entire state on smart meters getting damaged due to lightning.
Chairman, Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad Avdhesh Kumar Varma said, “Questions are being raised on the quality of the smart meters as they were damaged due to lightning. The engineers of UP Power Corporation did not properly check the quality of smart meters before purchasing them. All the damaged smart meters were substandard and officials never bothered to conduct the ‘sparc test’ which is mandatory for testing the quality of smart meters. An in-depth inquiry must be ordered by the UPPCL bosses, to know the exact reason behind the meters getting damaged.”
He said, “I am collecting the figures of damaged smart meters as maximum complaints have come from Utrethia, Chinhat, Gomtinagar Extension, Gomtinagar, Jankipuram, Kursi RoadThakurganj, Saadatganj, Rajajipuram, Indira Nagar, Mahanagar, South City, Kanpur Road, Ashiana and Chowk areas.”
A senior LESA official said that most of the smart meters were installed on the outer walls of houses. So, if they were of poor quality, they could get damaged. There was a possibility of damage to the sensor of the smart meter. This could also affect the hardware and the SIM cards would stop working.
Chairman of UP Power Corporation, Dr. Ashish Goyal called a video conference and discussed the issue with the MDs of power distribution corporations. He has called for the list of smart meters that were damaged within 24 hours of lightning.
The company is changing the faulty meters without charge.
MD Madhyanchal Bhavani Singh Khangarot said, “EESL has started the work of replacing smart meters damaged due to lightning. No fee is being collected from consumers for this.”
GM LESA cis-Gomti Sanjay Jain said, “One cannot reach a conclusion about the reasons behind the meters getting damaged. Unless they are tested, we cannot tell the exact reasons behind the meters getting damaged.”
