Residents would no longer feel unsafe walking down the streets after sundown.

The civic body in Motihari, the district headquarters of East Champaran, would install new streetlights in May. The initiative was taken by the Motihari Nagar Parishad, which floated tenders for installing LED lamps in all 30 wards of the town.

Home to over one lakh residents, Motihari has only a few functional streetlights at present. One can hardly find functional streetlights along the 1.5km stretch from Balua Chowk to the Katchari Chowk where most government offices and quarters are located.

As many as 2,000 streetlights would be installed in the town at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. Unlike in the past when sodium vapour lights were used, this time LEDs would be used.

"There were some technical hurdles in implementing the streetlight project but now tenders have been floated for the work. We hope installation of the LED lights would commence in May this year," the civic body chairman, Prakash Ashthana, said.

He said the LED lights, apart from illuminating the streets better, would consume less energy, cutting down on the electricity costs for the civic body. "These lights would be fitted with sensors so that they would be operational in the evening and get switched off in the morning," he added.

Happy with the decision of the Motihari civic body, Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Sonarpatti locality in the town, said: "LED streetlights would be a boon for the town, as one feels unsafe while moving on the dark streets after sunset. The civic body should ensure quality of work and proper maintenance of the lights after installation."