Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation will start next week a survey to find out the number of non-functional street lights.
Most roads in the township have been plunging into darkness after sundown over the past two years because of dysfunctional lighting systems installed by the civic body.
Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said work on repairing non-functional street lights and installing new ones would start soon after the survey.
“Apart from carrying out repairs, we will install new-age lighting systems in all three sectors of Salt Lake. We had installed several high-mast lamps as well as LED lighting systems in our previous stint. Now we want to convert all lights to LED,” said Chakraborty.
The Telegraph has reported on multiple occasions that a large number of street lights, which are installed every 20-25m along main roads, in the township have stopped working since before the outbreak of Covid-19.
Many residents said they think twice before walking through or driving down these roads at night because snatchers and other petty criminals frequent the stretches taking advantage of the darkness.
An official of the civic body said work would start from the wards in Salt Lake and then be extended to Baguiati, Kestopur and Rajarhat. “Non-functional street lights has been an issue in Salt Lake as well as adjoining areas like Kestopur, Baguiati and parts of Rajarhat. Many of the lights broke during Cyclone Amphan and others have stopped functioning because of technical reasons,” the official said.
All street lights installed in the 41 wards of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation are maintained by the civic body, while the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is in charge of power supply.
A WBSEDCL official said supply to nearly all lamp posts was checked periodically.
Metro drove and walked through various blocks in all three sectors of Salt Lake at night and found most lanes and even some arteries in darkness.
To add to commuters’ worries, construction materials for the ongoing airport-New Garia Metro work lay scattered along the roads. Besides, a number of potholes and dud wires were spotted on the roads.
“We have sent several letters to the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation but no action has been taken,” said Subhas Pal Ganguly, a resident of BE Block.
