Gurugram: MCG sets 24-hour deadline to fix all non-functional streetlights

Earlier this month, the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) had passed an order to all 10 municipal corporations across the state to start fining their respective concessionaires, if they fail to fix streetlights within a 24-hour period.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has set a 24-hour deadline for its concessionaire, Energy Efficiency Services Limited, to repair all non-functional LED streetlights in the city, failing which the concessionaire will be required to pay a daily fine of ₹50 per streetlight until fixed, said officials on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) had passed an order to all 10 municipal corporations across the state to start fining their respective concessionaires, if they fail to fix streetlights within a 24-hour period. (Gurpreet Singh/HT file photo. Representative image)

Earlier this month, the directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) had passed an order to all 10 municipal corporations across the state to start fining their respective concessionaires, if they fail to fix streetlights within a 24-hour period. The order was passed after repeated complaints were filed on the ULB website and the Swachh Haryana mobile application, said Raman Yadav, executive engineer, electrical wing, MCG.

“Adhering to the directions of the ULB, we have conveyed to our concessionaire the information regarding the 24-hour deadline as well as the subsequent penalty fee. Setting up of mechanism and other related work on meeting this target has already started. During the non-monsoon months, we receive around 20-22 complaints per day of streetlights malfunctioning. In the monsoon season, often due to disruption in power supply, the daily complaints rise to 50 to 60,” said Yadav.

MCG officials said that currently, there are complaints of around 900 LED non-functional streetlights in the city.

In August 2017, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the civic body for installing LED streetlights in Gurugram. As per the MoU, EESL was also given the task of maintaining streetlights in the city for a period of 10 years.Over the last three years, more than 78,000 LED streetlights have been installed across the city, said MCG officials.

“We have a complaint handling system, through which we track complaints which go beyond 48 hours. If complaints exceed beyond the 48-hour period, we have an agreement with our concessionaires to impose penalties on our own. In the case of Gurugram, the local municipal corporation, as well as residents, are extremely vigilant due to which our pending complaints about non-functioning streetlights tend to remain below 1% against the total number of streetlights installed in the city,” said Venkatesh Dwivedi, director (projects), EESL.

Dwivedi further said that usually, across the country, EESL has an agreement with the local civic body of ensuring that 95% of the streetlights are functional at any given point.

“However, as per our MoU with the MCG, in Gurugram the rate is fixed at 97%. Thus, with the current number of LED streetlights in Gurugram, at any point, we have to ensure that the total number of non-functioning streetlights remain below 2,000. We have so far been able to ensure that the non-functioning streetlights percentage remains below 3%,” said Dwivedi.

Dwivedi further said that EESL is working on setting up a more advanced monitoring system in Gurugram, on par with the smart city parameters, which will enable the local municipal corporation to monitor the functioning of streetlights on a real-time basis.

“We are working on more advanced technical approaches to ensure that the turnout time is less than 24 hours. Even if a resident does not raise an issue, our control system should be able to detect the total number of non-functional streetlights in the city at any given point, so that, on the following morning, the maintenance team has prior information regarding the total number of streetlights that needs repair,” said Dwivedi.

Since last year, EESL and MCG have been working on linking all LED streetlights in the city with the integrated control and command centre (ICCC) of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for keeping real-time surveillance on their functioning.