Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Rs. 20 lakhs allocated to fix faulty streetlights

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, MARCH 29 . A temporary solution to the seven-month row over faulty streetlights was hammered out with the Mayor, T. Malaravan, declaring that 5,000 faulty streetlights, out of the 33,000, would light up the city in another 15 days.

After Monday's Council meeting was adjourned over the row, teams of Corporation officials and councillors inspected all the 72 wards to identify faulty lights and discussed the problems at an all-party meeting today to find a temporary solution. A permanent solution would come after awarding contracts to private operators for each zone.

The Council meeting was adjourned as the members insisted that it should be held only after steps were taken to repair the lights.

Wards visited

Beginning last evening, the teams led by the Mayor, the Commisioner, Anil Meshram, and the Deputy Mayor, K. Raghupathy, visited the wards and identified that 5,000 lights were faulty. The exercise went on close to midnight, official sources said.

After the all-party meeting, the Mayor told presspersons that the parties agreed to take stock of requirement of materials in all the four zones. Faulty accessories would be replaced with fresh ones to be bought at rates fixed by the Public Works Department.

"Each zone will be provided with Rs. 5 lakhs for purchase of materials," he said.

Sources said that though the officials said even the temporary measures would take 20 days, the elected representatives, including the Mayor, wanted the entire process to be completed in 15 days.

"Against the 33,000 lights in the city, 5,000 faulty ones may seem negligible. But, if four to five lights are faulty on one street, it causes immense hardship to people. This way the problem looks big," the Mayor pointed out.

Inadequate manpower

Mr. Malaravan admitted that the major problem was inadequate manpower for maintenance.

Sources said that only 19 persons were available to maintain all these lights in the absence of a private operator.

That was why many lights were switched on much before sunset and switched off much after sunrise.

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