REELING UNDER severe power crisis, the State Government today directed all business establishments and shops to close down by 8 pm till further orders.
Principal secretary, Labour, Anil Kumar Gupta, said here the labour commissioner (Kanpur), all divisional commissioners, district magistrates and regional /additional/ assistant/deputy commissioners had been asked to ensure strict compliance of the directives.
On the other hand, secretary Urban Development DC Mishra said that similar instructions had been issued to all municipal corporations, development authorities and local bodies in the State.
He said a specific time schedule had been fixed for switching on/off street-lights in the colonies of these respective civic bodies and their officials had been told to stick to the roster.
From April 1 till September 30, the street-lights would be switched on between 7 and 7.30 pm and turned off at 5.30 am.
The timetable would be followed with an hour’s difference (that is from 5 to 6 am to 6 to 7 pm) from October 1 till March 31. Lights in all public parks would be turned off at 11 pm.
Mishra said a decision had also been taken to impose a ban on all neon sign and glow sign boards till the crisis persists and the municipal commissioners and executive officers had been accordingly instructed to ensure implementation of the orders.
{{/usCountry}}Mishra said a decision had also been taken to impose a ban on all neon sign and glow sign boards till the crisis persists and the municipal commissioners and executive officers had been accordingly instructed to ensure implementation of the orders.
{{/usCountry}}With the peak demand touching a record level of 7,500 MW, the power situation in the state has only worsened even as the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) was penalised for violating ‘grid discipline’ by overdrawing from the Northern Grid.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh on UPPCL and Rs 1.5 lakh on its chairman for overdrawing power from the Northern Grid, which has officially been described as ‘very unstable’ due to excessive load. CERC has censured UPPCL on a petition of Northern Region Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC), official sources said.