The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Streetlights in several areas do not function

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Saturday, May 16, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Streetlights in several areas do not function

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

Big gaps between lamp posts a problem on interior roads

FILE PHOTo

Driving in the dark? Trees without regular pruning tend to obstruct light from street-lamps. –

CHENNAI: Though there are a total of 1.23 lakh lamp posts being maintained by the Chennai Corporation in the city, some stretches are still shrouded under darkness. Residents in several areas complain that the lamp posts do not work, on and off.

Places such as Krishnadas Road in Perambur, the stretch from Otteri to ICF junction on Konnur High Road, Ramasamy Avenue in Vannanthurai in Besant Nagar remain totally dark on several days, residents said.

Such darkness also acts as a cover for anti-social elements. S. Lokabiraman of Perambur said that Chandra Yogi Samadhi Road and Tank Bund Road remain dark many evenings.

“When the lights do not work or are very dull, incidents of eve teasing and theft happen,” he said.

Similarly, chain-snatching incidents are not uncommon in such locations. T. Jayaraman, a victim of a chain-snatching incident in Besant Nagar, said, “It was early in the morning and very dark when the incident took place. There was only one other person on the road, a woman. The streetlights had been turned off by that time,” he said.

Big gaps between lamp posts are also creating problems on interior roads. Old lamp posts have not been changed in some areas.

R. Govindarajan, joint general secretary of Exnora International, alleged that 10-15 per cent of the lights in the city are not functioning.

Trees that are not pruned also affect pedestrians. When foliage covers the top of the lamps, the light is unable to spread evenly.

The problem is also common in localities such as Adyar, Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur which have a canopy of trees and where the Corporation prunes trees only once in three months.

Inadequate staff and equipment are cited as reasons for non-functioning of lights.

K. Ramadoss of the North Chennai District Exnora, said that trees on New Avadi Road should be trimmed and power supply was needed for lamps on one side of Konnur High Road. S. Arumai Nathan of Virugambakkam said that more hydraulic ladders and staff were needed to attend to faults.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said that the percentage of non-burning lights in the city was only 3.2.

The civic body gets two or three complaints every day.

“We are in the process of replacing 13,000 old lamp posts, 12,000 damaged fittings and 13,000 acrylic covers. We are also purchasing another 15 hydraulic ladders,” he said.

It has 22 hydraulic ladders and hired another eight. They have 45 wooden ladders to be used on the interior roads.

He said that trees were a problem and that a pruning schedule was in place. “Teams of eight men have been formed in each zone and pruning is done once in three months. This will be revamped,” Mr. Lakhoni said.

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