Srinagar: Power Development Department (PDD) has started installing smart meters in Srinagar city.
Last month the government announced that it will begin installing smart meters in twin cities of Jammu and Srinagar from November 15.
Sanctioned under Prime Minister Development Programme (PMDP) the government had announced that 20,000 meters would be installed in the twin cities in the first phase and the process would continue in a phased manner until all two lakh meters are installed.
Chief Engineer PDD, Aijaz Ahmad Dar told The Kashmir Monitor that the department is currently analyzing the specification of the meters.
“The process has kickstarted and right now we are just doing the Proof of Concept (POC) of the meters supplied to the department. We need to check whether the meters supplied has all those specifications, which have been discussed to ensure judicious use of the electricity,” he said.
Dar said in Srinagar district, they will be installing 57500 meters in the initial phase. “We will target certain areas of Srinagar first and the entire city will be covered in one and a half year. After Srinagar, we will cater to the district headquarters and then accordingly rural Kashmir,” he said.
With the installation of smart meters, the chief engineer PDD said the consumers will be able to know their electricity consumption pattern and bill on a real-time basis, by which they will be in a position to manage load and reduce their monthly bill.
“A consumer will be able to recharge his smart meter and get updates of his power usage on daily basis. It will bring about transparency in metering, billing, and the collection which will eventually reduce power losses,” he said.
RECPDCL, which is the project implementing agency (PIA), has already procured the meters and has identified the households in the uptown areas of Srinagar to be installed with these meters.
Chief Engineer PDD said the demand for electricity has increased from 1100 Megawatts in October to 2100 Megawatts in November. “The consumer should judiciously use the electricity so that every area gets smooth power supply during peak hours,” he said.
