A major fire broke out in the meter room of a residential building in Nashik early Thursday morning, completely destroying twelve electrical meters. The incident occurred merely hours after the residents of the building had strongly opposed the installation of new smart meters by a contractor from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
Inspector to Investigate Cause of Blaze
In response to the incident, the electrical inspector of Nashik, Bhagwat Ugle, has announced that he will personally visit the building site to conduct a thorough investigation. The fire erupted at approximately 5 am on Thursday, during non-peak hours for electricity usage.
"Our office received the representation from the residents who claimed that their building is an old one and that there was no issue with the power supply before they refused to allow the contractor to install new smart meters," stated Ugle. He confirmed that his office is actively investigating the matter and will subsequently send a detailed report to both the affected residents and the MSEDCL.
Residents Point Finger at Meter Replacement Process
The residents have directly linked the fire to the previous day's events involving the MSEDCL contractor. According to their account, the contractor had arrived a day before the fire and removed one meter. This action was met with immediate opposition from the residents, following which the contractor reinstalled the meter.
"They put the meter back, but the next morning the meters were burnt," recounted one of the residents, highlighting the suspicious timing. The residents maintain that their old building had a stable power supply with no significant issues prior to the smart meter installation drive.
MSEDCL Calls for Wiring Safety Reports
Officials from the MSEDCL, however, have presented a different perspective. They argue that if a technical error had occurred during the meter change process, the resulting incident would have been instantaneous. Since the fire happened hours later, they suspect an internal fault.
An MSEDCL officer suggested that the cause could be a snag in the internal cables of any of the homes. On safety grounds, the power company has now asked the residents to provide test reports certifying the correctness of the internal wiring in their homes. Only after receiving these reports will the MSEDCL proceed with the installation of new meters.
"Any miscalculation could further aggravate the situation in terms of danger to life and property," the officer emphasized. Meanwhile, an officer from the electrical inspector's office noted that since the fire evidently originated at the meter box, the house wiring might not be at fault. Nevertheless, to eliminate all doubts, both the spot inspection report and the mandatory test reports are required before any further action is taken.
