The Salt Lake authorities started repairing street lights along main roads in the township this week.
The parks and lighting department of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation has already fixed street lights on a stretch of Broadway that leads to Karunamoyee from the GD Block island and a section of First Avenue that leads to the Punjab National Bank intersection from City Centre.
The main roads as well as lanes in all three sectors ofthe township are lined withlamp posts at 20 to 25 metre intervals.
However, many of the lights have stopped working.
The Telegraph drove and walked through various blocks in all three sectors at night and found most lanes and even some arteries were plunged into darkness.
The road that leads to Calcutta University’s Salt Lake campus from AMRI Hospitals Salt Lake, opposite the stadium, does not have a single functional street light along the entire 500m stretch.
The road that connects the Chingrighata intersection with Salt Lake’s EE Block, which runs parallel to the eastern drainage canal, has fewer than four functional street lights.
Driving or walking down this 4km-long road is risky as it is nearly impossible for cars with their headlights off to spot a pedestrian or vehicle.
In Sector I, large stretches of the road along the Kestopur canal have no functional streetlight.
“We have sent several letters to the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation but no action has been taken,” said Sandipan Pyne, an AE Block resident.
The corporation is responsible for the maintenance of the lighting systems, while electricity is supplied by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL).
A senior WBSEDCL official said all their supply lines to the lamp posts were working fine as they had conducted a check recently.
A senior civic official said they would soon survey the areas where street lights had stopped working.
“The engineers have been directed to carry out a survey,” he said.
Mayor Krishna Chakraborty said she had asked councillors of all wards in Salt Lake to list areas that need “urgent attention in terms of street lights”.
“We have started repairs based on their feedback,” Chakraborty said.
