By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 12: The Meghalaya government will implement the smart meter project in the state.
Power Minister AT Mondal told reporters on Thursday that there is a lot of pressure on the state government from the Centre to implement the smart meter project.
He, however, did not spell out the timeline of its implementation in the state. He said once the project is implemented, around 800 meter readers will have to be redeployed.
Seeking cooperation from consumers, Mondal said the Ministry of Power has made it mandatory for the states to install smart meters. He said this move will enable the department to detect leakages.
Asked about concerns over inflated bills generated by smart meters in Assam, he said the government will ensure that the consumers do not suffer.
“If the smart meters are not smart enough, why should we harass the consumers?” Mondal said, adding that the government will take care of complaints.
Earlier, he said there will be no downsizing of staff although the MeECL is going through financial constraints. He said the corporation needs more engineers and “jugalis”.
He said efforts are on to minimise AT&C losses and bring more efficiency in the corporation. The government is ready to go ahead with any reforms required for MeECL but it cannot be done overnight, said the minister.
He claimed that despite challenges, such as component of borrowings, loans and dues, there has been a lot of improvement in the overall financial condition of MeECL.
On complaints lodged by some consumers that their electricity bill is generated although the meters have not been installed yet, Mondal said the government had issued a notification last year, directing that no bill should be generated in such cases.
Meanwhile, Mondal said there is no question of allowing bigger and heavier vehicles to ply via the renovated Umiam dam bridge. He said there should be an alternate road at the earliest and work is underway in this regard.
The minister acknowledged that there is a lot of criticism over the restrictions but said the government is concerned not only about the bridge but also the dam which has a capacity to generate around 170 MW of power.
The PWD is exploring the idea of constructing a bailey bridge along a different route to allow the movement of heavier vehicles to and from Shillong.
Before the retrofitting work, heavy vehicles were plying normally by using the bridge but after the repair work, the IIT-Guwahati advised restricting the movement of heavier vehicles.
The grouting work is going on and the movement of traffic is not affected at the dam site.