Samrat Choudhary at the meet in Patna on Friday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Urban development and housing minister Samrat Choudhary is adamant on making officals accountable for defunct streetlights in the run-up to Diwali after failing to stand by his earlier commitment of taking action against those responsible for dark streets during Navratri.

His adventures don’t end here. Minister Choudhary has expanded the ambitious scheme of installing 1,100 light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights in Patna to 5,000. On several occasions, the minister in the past had iterated on the completion of work on installation of 1,100 LED streetlights in the city by Diwali.

But Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo), the executing agency for the project, is stuck in the project’s bidding process. Thus, it is almost certain that the lights would not be installed by October 21, the Diwali day. With the deadline for the original scheme set to be missed, the progress on the expanded scheme is anyone’s guess.

Choudhary, however, claimed that all 5,000 LED streetlights would be installed by the end of this fiscal (March 31, 2015). He made such claims at a review meeting on streetlights in Patna at the new secretariat building on Friday.

Action missing

Minister Choudhary on September 18 had claimed to initiate disciplinary action against officers if any defunct streetlight was found in their jurisdiction during Navratri.

The warning fell on deaf ears. Forget colonies, arterial streets like Fraser Road, Ashok Rajpath, Exhibition Road, Bailey Road, Chiraiyatand railway over bridge and Boring Road, were enveloped in darkness during the festival.

Even the high-mast light at Ramgoolam Chowk near Gandhi Maidan was not functioning during the stampede after the Ravan Vadh on October 3. Experts claimed that had the high-mast lamp been functioning, the causality might have been less than 33.

Not a single officer has faced any action for any of the callousness with regard to illumination of streets. When The Telegraph quizzed Choudhary, he said: “We have formed teams for inspection of streetlights across the city. They would start patrolling in three to four days and action on the errant officers can be seen then.”

According to sources, a four-member inspection team has been issued instructions to tour Patna for two hours every evening and look for streetlights and high-mast lights that are not glowing and furnish a daily report. The minister said 312 of the total 365 streetlights had been repaired in the New Capital circle but the ground reality on the thoroughfare does not corroborate his claims.

According to sources, there are around 6,000 streetlights in Patna at present, but except for VIP areas such as the chief minister’s residence, Raj Bhavan, Bailey Road and Hardinge Road, rest remain dark after sunset because of defunct or no streetlights.