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Faulty LED streetlights: Ludhiana MC warns firm of contract termination
Councillors slam Tata company for poor maintenance of streetlights; firm complains of pending bills amounting to ₹9 crore
Amid the row over missing and non-functional streetlights in Ludhiana, Tata company has been given a month’s time to improve its functioning otherwise the civic body will move forward with terminating the contract.
After councillors and mayor Balkar Sandhu slammed the company for its alleged poor performance, principal secretary of local bodies department, AK Sinha, convened a meeting with both the parties in Chandigarh on Saturday.
Mayor Sandhu, senior deputy mayor Sham Sundar Malhotra, leader of opposition in MC House Harbhajan Singh Dang, leader of Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) councillors Swarandeep Chahal, and BJP local bodies cell in-charge Inder Aggarwal were among those present in the meeting.
The councillors criticised the company officials over poor maintenance of streetlights and lack of maintenance staff and machinery, while the company raised the issue of pending bills amounting to ₹9 crore, due to which the working of the firm had been hit badly.
Leader of opposition in the MC General House Dang said, “Poor maintenance of streetlights is a major issue and residents have been raising hue and cry over the defunct streetlights, due to which many areas of the city are left in the dark during the night hours. The company has failed to depute the required number of maintenance staff and teams visit wards on a weekly basis. They do not even have hydraulic ladders to repair the streetlights. There should be one team in every ward and maintenance should be done on a regular basis.”
Senior deputy mayor Malhotra said that the company has failed to improve the working in the last two years and residents have been bearing the brunt.
The councillors stated that the online system to keep a check on the functioning of lights was also not working properly, but the company has assured to improve the working in the coming time.
Mayor Sandhu said, “One last chance has been given to the company despite the repeated complaints from the councillors. If the company still fails to improve in a month, then a House meeting will be organised to terminate the contract.”
Survey finds 4,000 lights missing
The MC has found at least 4,000 streetlights missing in about 50 wards of the city during the survey ordered by the mayor in July.
The company had earlier claimed in its survey that 900 lights were missing and over 1.2 lakh lights have been installed in the city.
The councillors stated that the company had agreed to install 1.5 lakh lights under the contract, but now they are claiming that there are just 1.3 lakh points. After the meeting, the company has now assured that the lights will be installed at the missing points.
Senior deputy mayor said the company has also been directed to install additional 15% streetlights as per a clause in the agreement as streetlights were still missing from a number of areas in the city. He added that the pending payment will be released once the firm’s functioning improves.
