Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s LED street-lighting project, that had been in a state of limbo for several months, has made some progress.
The civic body has submitted a list of lights that are required in all 41 wards under its jurisdiction to the urban development and municipal affairs department.
The ball has got rolling after a review meeting was held among all councillors that was chaired by urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim in the run up to the International Kolkata Book Fair held last month. According to sources present at the meeting, Hakim had pointed out that the state of roads and streetlights was poor in the township and that amends were to be made.
“I received a letter from the urban development and municipal affairs department that has given, in principle, a go-ahead to the LED lighting scheme,” said Sudhir Saha, the mayoral council member in charge of lights.
According to another corporation source, the lights will be converted into LEDs under the Green City Mission. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the power ministry, is likely to fix the lights, the source said.
He added that a mix of lights had been sent to the urban development department, including those of 140W, 70W, 45W, 190W and 24W.
“The total number of lights required is around 26,161 while the number of poles we need is 3,337,” said the official.
According to Saha, the project cost is pegged at around Rs 20 crore and work is expected to begin in the next couple of months.
The state of lights in Salt Lake, coupled with bad roads, had made streets unsafe for motorists and pedestrians alike.
Prakash Bhattacharya, a resident of FE Block, said they have several streetlights that don’t work. “Many of these had stopped working months ago while a few got damaged after the recent thundershower. The street in front of my house plunges into darkness after dusk,” said Bhattacharya.