Secretary, LM & CP, KT Sukhalu (Centre) is seen alongwith officials of the department during the inauguration on Saturday, February 19. Seen in the background is the newly acquired ‘Weighbridge Testing Mobile Kit’ mounted on a truck.
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 19 (MExN): The Department of Legal Metrology and Consumer Protection (LM & CP), Nagaland has acquired a ‘Weighbridge Testing Mobile Kit’. Secretary, LM & CP, KT Sukhalu, IAS, formally inaugurated the launching of the equipment in Dimapur in the presence of department officials on Saturday, February 19.
M/s S.K. Weighbridge, a weighing facility for commercial goods carriers located along the Diphu Road, near Dimapur Government College became the first weights and measures establishment to be calibrated (technical terms for measurement) today by the newly acquired equipment. Sukhalu oversaw the testing process.
According to a department official the weighing apparatus mounted on top of a truck was provided by the central government and costs around Rs. 62 lakh. This is the first time that the state has acquired such a machine and it will calibrate (or test) all the commercial weighbridges functioning in the state.
The mobile testing machine carries 5 tonnes of test weights (or weighing stones) in four denominations: 1000 kilograms, 500 kilograms, 100 kilograms and 50 kilograms.
The official said that at present routine tests are conducted manually which would sometimes result in not so accurate measurement. Now with the acquirement of the machine it has become easier for the department and accurate calibration. Even a small margin of error, say 5% of the total weigh, during manual calibration would result in great monetary losses, the official said. It was surmised that if a weighbridge using manual calibration conducts 20 measurements a day, the loss incurred would run upto Rs. 5 lakh a day.
Later addressing a meeting of the department officials at the Assistant Controller’s Office in Dimapur, Sukhalu averred that Nagas in general are not bothered with consumer rights or for that matter legal metrology. However, he held that it is high time the public take notice.
On this note he reminded the department and its officials: “We need to generate consumer awareness which is very much lacking in the state.” The authority vested in the department must be used for the benefit of the consumers and not for the business people. The responsibility of the department is to generate awareness among the consumers and ensure that their grievances are addressed and redressed, he held.
He further called upon the department to see to it that the rules under the Legal Metrology Act 2009 which comes into force from March 1, 2011 are wholeheartedly implemented in the state as well.
M/s S.K. Weighbridge, a weighing facility for commercial goods carriers located along the Diphu Road, near Dimapur Government College became the first weights and measures establishment to be calibrated (technical terms for measurement) today by the newly acquired equipment. Sukhalu oversaw the testing process.
According to a department official the weighing apparatus mounted on top of a truck was provided by the central government and costs around Rs. 62 lakh. This is the first time that the state has acquired such a machine and it will calibrate (or test) all the commercial weighbridges functioning in the state.
The mobile testing machine carries 5 tonnes of test weights (or weighing stones) in four denominations: 1000 kilograms, 500 kilograms, 100 kilograms and 50 kilograms.
The official said that at present routine tests are conducted manually which would sometimes result in not so accurate measurement. Now with the acquirement of the machine it has become easier for the department and accurate calibration. Even a small margin of error, say 5% of the total weigh, during manual calibration would result in great monetary losses, the official said. It was surmised that if a weighbridge using manual calibration conducts 20 measurements a day, the loss incurred would run upto Rs. 5 lakh a day.
Later addressing a meeting of the department officials at the Assistant Controller’s Office in Dimapur, Sukhalu averred that Nagas in general are not bothered with consumer rights or for that matter legal metrology. However, he held that it is high time the public take notice.
On this note he reminded the department and its officials: “We need to generate consumer awareness which is very much lacking in the state.” The authority vested in the department must be used for the benefit of the consumers and not for the business people. The responsibility of the department is to generate awareness among the consumers and ensure that their grievances are addressed and redressed, he held.
He further called upon the department to see to it that the rules under the Legal Metrology Act 2009 which comes into force from March 1, 2011 are wholeheartedly implemented in the state as well.
