Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Ombudsman sets up monitoring committee

Thiruvananthapuram: Ombudsman for Local Self-government Institutions M.R. Hariharan Nair issued an order on Thursday constituting a monitoring committee to ensure the installation and operation of streetlights in the capital city.

Issued on a suo motu case registered by the Ombudsman, the order stated that keeping streetlights operational would require a coordinated effort involving several agencies and departments like the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), National Highway and Public Works Department. The need to involve these agencies calls for a monitoring and coordinating mechanism to oversee the project, it said.

The order follows a report submitted by Mayor C. Jayan Babu after an official-level meeting to discuss the installation of streetlights. The monitoring committee with the District Collector as convenor and Corporation Secretary as secretary, would meet every three months to sort out problems.

The Corporation had been directed to ensure adequate funds for the operation of lamps. The committee also includes the KSEB Deputy Chief Engineer (Distribution) and the Executive Engineer, Electrical Division, Public Works Department.

The order also directed the Corporation to seek the sponsorship of beneficiaries like the consortium of Technopark companies, hotels, builders and other institutions to install streetlights.

The Mayor, in his report to the Ombudsman, had stated that the PWD Electrical Division had been asked to install streetlights and repair the damaged ones in the Pettah-Eenchakkal and Eenchakal- Thiruvallam stretches.

The report said it would require a meeting with higher-level officials of the National Highway division to lay cables on the Kovalam- Kazhakuttam bypass.

Officials of the Public Works Department who participated in the meeting said cabling work would have to be cleared by the Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways.

The Mayor said the KSEB had agreed to submit the estimate for laying electrical lines on the Thiruvallam-Kovalam and Kazhakuttam- Pettah roads. The meeting asked the PWD and the Road Fund Board to furnish details of the streetlights installed under the Capital Roads Improvement Programme. It also decided on a joint inspection to install meters for streetlights.

In an order issued earlier on the same case, the Ombudsman had observed that it was the bounden duty of the Corporation to keep streetlights operational.

Citing a government order permitting private sponsorship, the forum had directed the Corporation to hold discussions with IT firms and other institutions.

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