Kolkata Police Comes Up With SOP To Control Electricity Bills, Cracks Down On Encroachment

The Kolkata Police has now come up with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to control electricity bills, a concern for the West Bengal (WB) government.

Sources in the administration say that WB CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has given strict instructions to ensure there is no wastage of power. She held three administrative review meetings after election results and in all of them, came down heavily on the issue of encroachment and power wastage.

Recently, various districts faced power crisis, which has irked Banerjee, said sources.

Sources in Kolkata Police say that now they have come up with an eight-point SOP, which the offices have to strictly adhere to:

• Efforts should be made to utilise natural light at optimum level. There should be no such constructions or obstructions which may prevent the entry of natural light in the rooms / buildings.
• Electrical appliances shall be switched off when not in use. This implies that when an officer is not present in his office chamber the electrical appliances should be switched off. Similar are the instructions regarding electrical appliances in washroom.
• The temperature of the air-conditioners running in offices should be 25°C or above.
• The electrical appliances in common areas in office should be switched off once the office hours are over.
• Electrical appliances in residential quarters, including streetlights, should be timed and switched off at 5.30 am and 6pm.
• Efforts should be made to replace traditional lights to LED lights at the earliest. In the next one year, all lights should be replaced to LED lights to reduce consumption of electricity.
• The Kolkata Police is using solar generated electricity at Body Guard lines, BT Lines and Street. Efforts shall be made to expand use of solar energy in other establishments of Kolkata Police.
• Monthly electricity bills of each unit shall be reviewed by Jt. CP(O), Kolkata, to assess efficient use of electricity.

The Kolkata Police then held an internal meeting and instructed all officers to be strict on encroachment.

Police have started raiding encroachers on government plots. Even if there is politicians behind this encroachment, Banerjee has ordered them to take strict action.