Civic workers fix a bulb on a lightpost and (above) an illuminated stretch in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, March 26: Complaints regarding street lights tops the list of public grievances that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have received between December 1 and March 10 this year.

Out of the 2,003 complaints that the residents have lodged, 1,793 were related to street lights. During this period, the civic body has addressed 1,044 complaints of which 959 were related to the street lights. However, 834 complaints are still pending.

Complaints regarding the street lights usually flood the joint grievance redressal forum of the BMC and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) being held every Monday. The civic body also receives complaints on various civic services through the on-line grievance redressal and the Sanjog helpline.

Mazmil Ahmed Khan, a senior citizen from Kanan Vihar, alleged that plantations on an encroached land were obstructing a street light in Chandrasekharpur. The trees were not removed even after several complaints were lodged both with the BMC and the BDA.

“On June 14, 2012, two goons snatched a gold chain from my wife Kudsia Sultana. After that I urged the authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that street lamps light up streets instead of trees. However, till date no action has been taken,’’ Khan said.

Chandrasekhar Mohanty from IRC Village in Nayapalli said: “Complaints on replacement of several street lights in our area were lodged with the BMC nearly four months ago. Apart from the Sanjog helpline, I have also filed complaints at the BMC’s Maha Samadhan Sibir, but nothing has happened.’’

Secretary of Prachi Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association Chandramani Behera said that the repair and maintenance work in the colony was yet to be taken up properly though BDA had developed the plotting scheme.

Assistant engineer of the electrical wing Ajit Kumar Behera said: “Seven new wards have been brought under the BMC, but demarcation of all electrical installations is yet to be done.’’

“We have already created a database of street-light posts and high-mast lights. But we are yet to arrange them according to the new boundary limits. We hope to finish the work within a month or two,’’ he said.

Sources, however, pointed out that the maximum complaints about street lights were from the wards that had been added after delimitation. While residents of these wards are yet to get proper electrical infrastructure, in many of these areas the BMC field staff of the electrical wing have confusion over their jurisdiction.

Nodal officer of the joint grievance redressal forum Subhransu Mishra said: “Shortly we will be organising the electrical database of the new areas.’’

On the other hand, of the 2,003 complaints received during this period, 164 were related to sanitation and public health, 31 on enforcement and nine on civil infrastructure. Interestingly, not a single complaint has been addressed.

Additional commissioner, BMC, Krushna Prasad Pati asked the engineers of the electrical section to expedite the redressal of the pending cases. “In case of new areas, BMC employees will accompany staff of the electrical wing. We have asked them to report within seven days,’’ he said.

Officials of the electrical wing attribute manpower crunch to the delay in addressing complaints. On a given day, there is a single assistant engineer and one junior engineer in the BMC electrical section as against the requirement for four AEs and 14 more JEs. Similarly, the number of 27 field staff should be augmented to at least 50, said an official.

“We have initiated steps to increase staff in the electrical engineering wing of the BMC,’’ said an assistant engineer. The civic body manages more than 35,000 street-light posts and more than 50 high-mast lights here.