Pending probe, Uttar Pradesh minister stops smart meters’ installation

LUCKNOW: Taking a tough stand against mass tripping of smart meters on Janmashtami on August 12, energy minister Srikant Sharma has asked UPPCL to immediately stop their installation to avoid any inconvenience to the public.
Two senior officials of firms responsible for installation and maintenance were placed under suspension by the state government and the STF is probing the conspiracy angle in 'blackout' in several districts of the state on Janmashtami.
On Wednesday, Sharma directed UPPCL officials to immediately stop installation of smart meters in the state till he received the inquiry report.
The energy department had been replacing outdated meters with energy efficient smart meters, but even the new meters failed to yield desired results.
“What is the purpose of replacing the old meters when the smart meters too are proving a burden and are causing inconvenience to the public,” the minister said.
The state had plunged into darkness after the mass tripping of smart meters on Janmashtami, causing embarrassment to the Yogi government. The Opposition had made it an issue and the energy minister had regretted the malfunctioning of smart meters. The state government had also ordered a probe into causes that led to the Janmashtami fiasco. Probe was also ordered to look into the quality of smart meters and why there was no coordination between the command and control room staff in Lucknow and employees of the company which installed the meters.
In the first phase, nearly 10 lakh meters were installed. In the next two years UPPCL had decided to install over 2.5 crore smart meters in the state.