Shimla: The Electricity Board Employees Union has intensified its efforts to draw attention to the ongoing issues surrounding the installation of smart meters in Shimla and Dharamshala. In a recent plea to the government, the union has highlighted the significant challenges and failures experienced thus far, calling for immediate action to address the concerns raised by the union members. With mounting pressure and growing discontent among industry professionals, the fate of the smart metering initiative hangs in the balance, as the union demands a thorough review of the entire process.
Sharma highlighted the past experiences of the Electricity Board, stating that out of the 150,000 smart meters installed in Shimla and Dharamshala, the board had to bear the cost of approximately 50,000 meters due to failures in meeting the targets set by the central government. The union president also mentioned the failure of a pilot project initiated in 2017 at Kala Amb Sirmaur, which casts doubts on the successful execution of the larger project involving 2.6 million smart meters.
Adding to the grievances, it was revealed that Rs 300 crore had already been spent on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems by the Electricity Board, yet none of the software associated with it is functional. This raised concerns among the attendees of the conference, which focused on the central government’s policies regarding the privatization of power corporations.
The conference witnessed a significant turnout, with hundreds of employees and engineers expressing their discontent with the central government’s smart metering policy. Similar conventions have been taking place across the country to protest the handover of electricity company operations to private entities.
