Install smart electricity meters on 1st floor: T Nagar residents

According to V Jayaraman, president of T Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, most of the residential apartments located in T Nagar were decades old and prone to flooding as they are below road level. “Since the electricity meters are installed at the ground level in these apartments, rainwater from the road flows into apartments during the monsoons, causing inundation. This forces the residents to switch off power to the premises till water recedes to avoid electrocution,” he said. As smart meters are small in size and do not occupy large space like the conventional ones, installation of smart meters at least in streets that are vulnerable should be taken up immediately, he added in a letter to the chairman and managing director of Tangedco.

 “Unlike conventional digital meters, there is no need for the assessors to physically visit the premises to take reading in the case of smart meters. Hence, it can be kept on the first floor for safety reasons,” he added. However, when contacted, a senior Tangedco official said that there was no provision presently to allow installation of meters on the first floor. “Now, the meters should be installed in a place that is accessible to the assessors to take reading. The rules maybe changed in the future,” he added. In his letter, Jayaraman urged the power utility to take efforts to install smart meters at the earliest, pointing out that the State government has relaxed lockdown restrictions.

 “Around 1.41 lakh smart meters have been procured but their installation is delayed due to COVID-19. Now that the government has relaxed lockdown regulations, Tangedco should immediately install these meters and finish the work before the onset of monsoon,” the association urged Tangedco CMD.