New LED lights conk out days after installation

GURUGRAM: Several city roads, markets and parks, both in Huda and MCG areas, are yet to get

LED lights

with a state-owned agency missing another deadline to light up the city’s dark stretches.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) — an energy

service

agency that was roped in through an MoU in October last year for the project — was supposed to install a total of 48,568 LED lamps, replacing old

streetlights

by July 15. However, even after missing a couple of deadlines, the agency has installed only around 43,000 energy-efficient lights so far.

Further, MCG officials claimed around 1,000 LED lamps conked out within a few days of their installation while hundreds others were fixed improperly, resulting in poor lighting.

Last week, MCG executive engineer Lalit Jindal shot off a letter to EESL chief operating officer Venkatesh Dwivedi, underlining the “lackluster job” done by the agency’s team in the implementation of the public lighting project.

“It is regretted that the work has not been completed so far. More than 5,000 LED lights are yet to be replaced (installed), especially on main roads, markets and parks. This apart, around 850 complaints regarding non-functioning of LED lights have already been received at MCG call centres,” reads the letter.

Jindal further said, “No effort is being made by your team to complete the work. The whole project is being executed in a casual manner. The agency officials are not bothered to supervise the work personally, and the corporation has been left at the mercy of one or two supervisors of EESL-appointed vendors.”

In his letter, Jindal also highlighted that the newly installed LED lights lacked proper connections. Also, beam angles used for fixing the lights were not in proper shape. “EESL should ensure quality of LED lights as mentioned in the MoU,” the corporation told the agency.

When contacted, Dwivedi said, “We received the permission to start work in March only. Yet, we have installed the number of lights we had committed. The pending ones are those which were added later.”

On the quality of the installed lights, he said some lights were not functioning while others were blinking due to poor infrastructure.

Dark roads have for long been a bane for the city. Even the Gurugram police, in its report in June, revealed most of the crimes reported in the city were committed between 6pm and 11pm, and cited lack of streetlights as a major factor behind the rising crime graph.

Thus, in October last year, EESL (under the ministry of power) and MCG had struck a deal for installing LED lights as part of a long-awaited project that is expected go a long way in instilling a sense of security in residents, mainly women, who are currently forced to travel on dark stretches after the sundown.

Under the project, the energy-efficient lamps were to installed to light up all the streets across all 36 civic wards, Huda sectors and HSIIDC industrial areas the city. These apart, around 406 high-masts were to be installed to make city roads brighter and safer for commuters. The LED lights are expected to cut down power consumption by 45-55%, saving approximately 13 million units of electricity annually.