CHENNAI: Residents of T Nagar will have to wait even longer for smart electricity meters as they are being tested for errors. A Tangedco official said the delay is mainly due to the pandemic.
“Some machines were tested and errors were found. They are being rectified. We could not begin installation due to the second wave. Work should begin by next month,” he said.
The project to install smart electricity meters at 12,708 households of T Nagar was proposed in 2017 under the smart city mission.
For the purpose, nearly 1.45 lakh smart meters were procured from Venus Power Ventures India Ltd, at the cost of Rs 137 crore.
A smart meter records power consumption and transmits the data to servers. Total consumption of power, on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, is sent to the consumer as SMS and email.
They also provide near-realtime notification of outages to enable faster detection.
Tangedco officials say since the installation work requires the workmen to personally go to each and every house to replace the digital meters, the staff were worried about contracting the virus.
Even bill reading was not done due to Covid.
However, the residents of T Nagar have urged Tangedco to complete installation of smart meters before the onset of monsoon.
“Most of the buildings in T Nagar are old. The current electricity meters are installed at ground level. Over the years, the road level has increased leading to flooding. Every time it rains, we switch off electricity due to fear of electrocution,” said V Jayaraman, president, T Nagar Welfare Residents Association.
“Since smart meters are very small, they can be installed on the first floor.”
Concurring, P Ranganathan, another resident said during recent rains too, they approached the local officials to speed up the project, since it has been delayed for more than two years now.
Meanwhile, there are plans to install smart meters in the whole city. About 42 lakh smart meters will be procured for the purpose.