CHANDIGARH: The joint
exercise of engineering wing of MC and UT administration to replace all
street lights in the city has finally begun as the authorities have
identified 16 sectors and three areas in colonies and villages to
replace the existing lights with energy-efficient LED lights in the
first phase. The authorities will spent around Rs 3 crore in the first
phase to provide new lights on V6 (internal roads) of the city while the
remaining parts of the city will be covered later in a phased manner.

After the detailed survey and testing of LED lights on field,
authorities have identified internal roads of sectors 20, 21, 22, 23,
24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and roads in Dhanas,
Maloya and Manimajra. During the survey it was also found that there are
some areas in sectors, colonies and villages where gap between light
poles is also very wide. Therefore, while installing lights, some new
poles will also be fixed along internal roads of residential areas.

As per the initial rough financial assessment, the total cost of the
replacement of each fitting will be around Rs 4,150 and the lowest
bidder would also provide free maintenance for a period of five years.
“We have planned to cover at least one third of the city in the first
phase, covering 16 sectors and three villages and colonies including
Manimajra. Besides complete replacement of lights in these areas,
another significant part of the project is that we are going for a new
technology by installing energy-efficient LED lights and if everything
goes well the remaining work will also be completed in the current year
itself,” said city mayor Subash Chawla. Non-functional street lights in
almost all residential parts of the city had been a major cause of
concern for city residents, with many accidents and incidents of crime
directly being attributed to it over the years.

There are
around 40,000 street lights in the city, which are divided between
Chandigarh municipal corporation and Chandigarh administration for their
upkeep. Therefore, both of the wings were brought together to initiate
the joint project of entire replacement of street lights in the city.