It has been more than a year that the Smart Street Lighting project was initiated by the Pune Municipal Corporation. But yet, the city sees many dark spots and streets, which the authorities have turned a blind eye to.
The initiative to convert traditional bulbs into LED bulbs was taken keeping in mind the reduction in the power consumption and reducing the electricity bill at large.
However, although the Corporation claims that 90% of the work is almost done, these citizens believe that it is just their casual guess as opposed to the ground reality.
According to a notification by the urban development department, all the state municipal corporations have to install LED street lights by December 2018 with the motive to reduce nearly half of the electricity bill.
“Leave alone turning the existing lights into LED, we do not have adequate lighting in major parts of the area,” quotes Satish Mane, a resident of Kondwa. “The area sees a lot of traffic majorly due to the commute of heavy vehicle and hence, it has become a risky affair to drive through these lanes after sunset. The entire highway stretch hardly has light and the vehicles driving in high beam only add to the problems faced by the vehicle drivers and pedestrians.”
As reported, the corporation undertook the project to change sodium vapour lights with LEDs on streets to save energy and money, in 2016.
Another resident of Hadapsar says that although they have spotted some lights in the vicinity, it still seems inadequate and are not maintained. “Every month we see a street light fusing, either they are not fixed properly or the quality isn’t maintained. The minute you leave the busy streets, it is difficult to find proper lighting even on the main roads. Moreover, the road from the bus stop towards Solapur is the worst, leading to at least 2 accidents in a week,” he quips.
According to a news report, Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao said that “the tender for the Katraj-Kondhwa road was scrapped because of administrative issues and the civic body will issue a fresh tender very soon.”
Shakeel, a hardware shop owner at Undri, says that the main road including the Undrigaon link road is so badly lit that it is a task crossing the lanes. “Moreover, there are these random speed breakers and chunks of concrete lying on the roads which makes it more difficult to drive here. There are schools and colonies there, at least these lanes need proper lighting. Forget about LED and high-tech mechanism, get some proper installations done here,” he adds.
“If I am not wrong, the project is estimated to cost more than 15 crore rupees. And if the officials’ claims that they have done most of the work, then they have to show us where have they spent,” questions a city-based marketing head. “I roam around the entire city almost every alternate day and trust me; there are more areas than just the heart of the city that need immediate attention,” he adds.
Reach her at loveleen@pune365.com or tweet @KaurKaur18
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