Chandigarh MC seeks control of entire street light work from admn

Chandigarh MC is also planning a new project for the operation and maintenance of all street lights in the city

The Chandigarh municipal corporation’s (MC) commissioner, Anandita Mitra, on Friday wrote to the UT administration, seeking transfer of the entire street light work of the city to the civic body along with the requisite budget provision for its efficient and effective management.

Chandigarh municipal corporation is managing around 48,000 street lights in the city whereas the engineering department of the administration is responsible for maintaining more than 5,000 street lights. (HT Photo)

In the letter, Mitra stated, “Since its establishment in 1995, the MC has assumed responsibility for various functions previously managed by the engineering wing and other departments of the Chandigarh administration.”

The letter further read that as per the last notification of the administration, the street lights with underground cables alongside roads is to be maintained by the MC, but presently there are many roads under the civic body where the street lights are being maintained by the administration. “There are also roads which are with the administration, but the maintenance work of street lights is done by the civic body which creates confusion and needs to be addressed,” she mentioned.

“A notification, released in 2005, stated that the composite system of street lighting (overhead lines on V5 and V6 roads) shall be maintained by the corporation on the payment of actual charges from the engineering department. Partial transfer of this function is creating several administrative problems arising from confusion regarding the jurisdiction. It also leads to coordination issues and also makes fixing of responsibility very difficult,” the letter stated.

The municipal corporation is managing around 48,000 street lights in the city whereas the engineering department of the administration is responsible for maintaining more than 5,000 street lights. In most of the areas, people don’t know whom to complain about non-functional street lights.

Not only this, the MC is also planning a new project for the operation and maintenance of all street lights in the city to ensure better management and maintenance.