CHENNAI : Maintenance of streetlights in Velachery seems to have suffered a setback as more than 1,500 streetlights have not been burning in the growing neighbourhood.

S. Kumararaja, Secretary, Federation of Velachery Welfare Associations, said that for more than a week, the streetlights had not been functioning at Annai Indira Nagar, Ram Nagar, Muruga Nagar, Vijaya Nagar North Extension, Dhandeeswaram 7th and 8th Main Roads. As a result, residents were worried about their safety, he said.

S. Rajendran, a resident of Vijaya Nagar North Extension, said 11 streetlights in his area had not been working for more than four months. Despite several complaints, authorities had not taken any action to solve the problem.

And there is another problem. There are streets, which are left in utter darkness because of streetlights not being switched on.

Mr. Kumararaja said that on August 9 an entire street was engulfed in darkness as the lights were not switched on.

An official of the Corporation said that there were 4,500 streetlights in Velachery, out of which more than 1,500 were not working. Maintenance of streetlights for Zone 10 had been privatised, he says, attributing the problem to shortage of civic staff and initial hiccup faced by the private agency.

Only for two days the maintenance vehicle was available to the Division 153 and yet within the short time, a maximum of 25 to 30 streetlights were repaired, the official said.

Mr. Kumararaja said that since Velachery was growing to be a major residential pocket of Zone 10 of the Corporation, "it is high time that the Chennai Corporation provided maintenance vehicle exclusively for Velachery streetlights''.

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