Power consumers in Gaya town, Bodhgaya and Manpur areas will soon get SMS alerts on their cellphones in case of a power cut in their area.
The SMS would be sent irrespective of whether the power cut is because of a breakdown in distribution transformer, short supply, maintenance work or fault in 33KV or 11KV transmission wire. As of now, India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL) - the Calcutta-based company that holds the franchisee for power distribution in Gaya town, Bodhgaya, Manpur, Atri, Fatehpur and Khisersarai blocks of Gaya district - sends consumers SMS texts only for power bill.
IPCL has assistant general manager Rakesh Ranjan saidthe company has awarded the contract for a detailed survey to a firm called Power Tech. The firm would collect consumer's name, cellphone number, email address, postal address, number of family members and make and year of manufacture of electric meter at the consumer's premises.
The firm has a three-month deadline. Once completed, IPCL will tag the data in its system. In case of a technical problem, an SMS alert would be sent with details about nature of breakdown and tentative restoration time. In case of regular power cut, information about availability of power or any technical fault in 33KV or 11KV distribution wires would be mentioned.
Ranjan said: "We'll make arrangements for consumers to send us an SOS if there is an emergency and they need power urgently during a power cut for maintenance work." An IPCL team will check authenticity before power is restored. In case complaint is false, the consumer would be penalised, he said.
There are around 80,000 genuine consumers in Gaya town, Bodhgaya and Manpur areas. Ranjan said: "The cellphone numbers of around 55,000 consumers is already registered. We have noticed that over 3,000 consumers have not given detailed address." One consumer was listed as just Sunil Kumar, Gaya.
Naushad Nezami in Ghany Market area appreciated the step but said he was not getting power bill SMS alerts. "I'll check registration of my cellphone number," he said. Narayan Kumar of Manpur said it was a good effort.
