Four PWD engineers get notice over faulty street lights

PWD minister Atishi initiated the action three days after seeking daily reports from the department over status of lights on the roads across Delhi

Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) minister Atishi has issued show cause notice to four engineers of the department for alleged laxity in getting street lights repair or replaced on the roads under their jurisdiction, senior officials aware of the matter said on Sunday.

Delhi PWD minister Atishi held a review meeting of PWD officials and the daily reports over the status of street lights across city roads. (ANI photo)

The officials added that the action came three days after the minister held a review on December 7, and sought daily reports regarding dark stretches across the city.

Quoting reports submitted till Sunday, the officials said that more than 2,600 street lights have been repaired in the since December 7. They added that as per the status reports submitted to the minister on Thursday, there are a total of 86,595 street lights under PWD, of which around 5,330 were not working.

“Some of the non-functional lights are on stretches handed over to the NHAI. The PWD has been given a deadline till Monday to make the remaining lights functional. Keeping the interest of public safety in mind, I further instructed the officials that streetlights play an instrumental role in avoiding accidents during winters when there fog reduces visibility,” Atishi said in a statement.

PWD officials said maximum dark stretches were reported in north-west Delhi, followed by south-west. The executive engineers in both zones have been issued show cause notices, along with an assistant engineer and junior engineer from the south zone.

According to the PWD report, there are 7,742 street lights in the south zone, of which 7,612 were found working.

Atishi said that government was serious in ensuring well lit road stretches as they play an important role in women’s safety on road. .

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had in June said that the government will install 90,953 smart street lights throughout Delhi, covering over 1400 kilometres of the road network under PWD. Officials had said that the old technology used in existing street lights made it challenging to procure spare parts.

The officials said that the department currently spends approximately ₹110 crore annually on electricity consumption by street lights, and an additional ₹28 crore on operation and maintenance, which may reduce to half if smart street lights were installed. However, the new scheme has not yet taken off.

PWD officials did not comment on the delay in the implementation of the scheme.