Subhash Kumar, Chairman, Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) chaired a meeting with officials of the State power department on Friday and instructed the officials to inspect houses/establishments and Government and private institutions to check whether electrical wiring was done by Government department/power safety inspector office/authorised electrical contractors or not in their respective buildings.
The officers were directed to ensure that they are implementing required power safety norms. Kumar told them to submit a report to the UERC soon.
He expressed concern over callous approach of department officers for not conducting inspections before releasing new electricity connections, which jeopardize the safety of domestic or private consumers in the state.
He stressed the need for overcoming shortage of staff in the vigilance cell and technical staff in the department.
He emphasised on the matter of strengthening and expanding human resource structure in the electrical safety department. Over this issue, public awareness should be launched by the department concerned.
Kumar told officials to submit a proposal for appointing new technical staff to the government. Kumar expressed anger that electrical work done in private and business establishment were not done by licensed trained technical staff.
Representatives of the Prantiya Electrical Contractors’ Association (PECA), Uttarakhand had earlier given a suggestion for extending renewal of contractors’ license from one year to three years. State Principal Secretary (Power) Umakant Panwar stressed on implementation of power safety norms strictly and strengthening and expanding human resource structure in the electrical safety department.