SMSes to warn Ghaziabad residents about power cuts

Ghaziabad residents will soon get SMSes from their discom to inform them about impending power cuts

Officials of the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (PVVNL), which supplies power to Western UP, has initiated a short messaging service (SMS) for the city’s consumers to inform them in advance about power cuts in their areas. The PVVNL is a subsidiary company of UPPCL, the state’s power distribution company.

According to residents, being informed about power cuts in advance would help them plan their day accordingly. (Representative Photo)

PVVNL has updated contact numbers of a large part of the city’s power consumers in its database and started them sending SMSes. According to senior officials, the contact numbers of more than 80% of their over two lakh consumers in Ghaziabad have been updated.

“Over the last one year, we have been spreading the word among consumers to update their contact numbers with us if they wish to receive information regarding the power situation in their area,” said MC Sharma, PVVNL superintending engineer, Ghaziabad.

The contact numbers have been saved in the database of the UPPCL helpline control room in Meerut. They have been segregated according to their circle area, that is, according to the substation they are connected to.

In addition to this, they will also get message updates for bill amount, payment and any outstanding dues.

“There are still a large number of consumers left who have not updated their contact numbers. They can either write down their numbers behind the cheque while paying their power bills or those who pay in cash can inform the official at the cash counter about updating their contact number,” said Sharma.

Power consumers say that the lack of information regarding power cuts creates problems for them.

“If we are informed beforehand regarding the power cuts, we can plan our day accordingly. Moreover, we will not have to call up the local substation repeatedly to get information. We hope the messaging service functions properly,” said RK Srivastava of Sector 3, Vaishali.