UT’s ₹241-cr smart meter project to see delay due to labour exodus

CHANDIGARH: Large-scale labour exodus amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown is set to delay the start of the recently approved pan-city smart-meter project.

The ₹241-crore central government project envisages installation of 2.5 lakh smart meters for electricity connections in the city. Currently, the UT engineering department is implementing a pilot project of installing 25,000 smart meters in a few localities.

The city-wide project was approved by the central government in March just before the lockdown and curfew was imposed for the containment of Covid-19. All civic and developmental works came to a standstill after the imposition of the curfew orders.

“After the lockdown relaxations were introduced, we had expected the work to start. But as soon as inter-state movement of migrant workers was allowed, most labourers left for their hometowns, leaving a labour shortage in the city. This will hit the start of ambitious smart-meter project,” said a senior UT official, requesting anonymity.

The pilot project was to be completed by June 2020, but, so far, only 500 smart meters have been installed. “Labour shortages are hampering of the pilot project too,” said the official.

The new meters will send immediate tamper alerts to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) centre, and allow the department to keep a track of load, voltage, outages, peak demand and consumption across the city.

Residents will benefit as smart meters will allow prepaid services to be started.