Smart City staff responsible for LED streetlights delay: Mayor

Ludhiana: After receiving frequent complaints against LED streetlights and the attitude of Tata company, mayor Balkar Sandhu has claimed he would discuss the issue in an all-party meeting, or approach senior authorities in Chandigarh, while Congress councillor Mamta Ashu said councillors would take up the issue in the MC general house.

The mayor has shown helplessness in taking action against the company by saying that the agreement with the company was not signed at the Ludhiana MC level, so no decision could be taken in the house.

However, both of them are claiming to have recommended for action against officials of Ludhiana Smart City Mission, because they remained mum and did not take any action against the company for not doing their work properly. In a meeting on Tuesday at Zone D office, the mayor questioned officials of Smart City whether they had taken any action against the company for not fulfilling the task in the given time period, and not resolving complaints related to non-functional LED streetlights.

In the next few days, there is a possibility of an MC general house meeting. Ashu had also attended the meeting, and wrote a letter to MC commissioner KP Brar and additional commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal regarding the LED streetlights issue, but she has not received a reply from them so far.

Ashu said Tata company was supposed to complete the work in areas falling under Zone D by the end of August, but it did not happen, and in the coming two months, the deadline for the rest of the zones will also end. She further informed that for Zone B, the deadline is September-end, while for zones A and C, November is the deadline. The company was supposed to complete the replacement of LED streetlights, along with the complete system, but the company had performed very poorly, she said, adding that she had also asked a few questions in the letter, for which she did not get the answers. She said in the house meeting, they would take a decision whether penalty should be imposed on the company, or some other action taken against it.

Meanwhile, the mayor said, “Every councillor is complaining about poor LED lights, and residents are also troubled, because the lights remain functional even during daytime in some areas, while at night, there is complete darkness.” He said Ludhiana MC cannot take action against the company because the contract was signed at the government level, but they can take action against officials of Smart City Limited for their inaction in the matter.

Even on Monday, Congress councillor Pankaj Sharma had staged a protest at Zone D office against LED streetlights, while he was called up to show the Scada (Supervisory control and data acquisition) system installed in the office. From this Scada system, the functioning of street lights can be monitored on screens installed in the room. But the councillor claimed it to be an eyewash.

Notably, the total cost of this project is Rs44.38 crore, and under this project, 1.05 lakh ordinary lights are to be replaced with LED lights. The company was given nine months’ time to complete this project after inauguration, and it was supposed to be completed in May. Sources revealed that the company was not given any extension by the government, but even then, they were continuing work without any trouble, while residents were suffering.