Business establishments to close down by 2000 hrs in UP

Lucknow, May 4 (UNI) Reeling under severe power crisis, Uttar Pradesh government today directed all business establishments and shops to close down by 2000 hrs till further orders.

Principal secretary, Labour, Anil Kumar Gupta said here the labour commissioner (Kanpur), all divisional commissioners, district magistrates and regional/additional/assistant/deputy commissioners had been asked to ensure strict compliance with the order.

The power situation in the state has turned to worse from bad with the demand touching record level of 7,500 Mw, even as the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) was penalised for violating 'grid discipline' by overdrawing from Northern Grid.

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh on UPPCL and Rs 1.5 lakh on its chairman for overdrawing power from Northern Grid, which has officially been described as 'very unstable' due to excessive load.

CERC has censured UPPCL on a petition of Northern Region Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC), official sources said.

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