Delay in selection of street light agency throws key areas in darkness

Patna: More than six months after the contract with the previous agency expired, the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) is yet to finalise a new agency for installation of street lights in areas under its jurisdiction.Owing to the delay, several key locations like Patliputra Station Road and other newly developed colonies are reeling under poor visibility during the evening hours.On one hand, the PMC is planning to install sensor-based lighting systems to improve energy efficiency across the city. On the other hand, the civic body does not have new LED street lights for installation or replacement of non-functional ones.The PMC had recently floated the tender for selection of agency for installation of street lights, but the proposal is pending at urban development and housing department (UD&HD).At present, 81,000 street lights of 35W to 140W capacity are installed across the municipal area. To improve oversight and automation of the street light network, a Centralised Control and Monitoring System will also be developed.Officials said other govt bodies like the road construction department and Bihar State Road Development Corporation Ltd have also installed street lights under various road projects. Maintenance of these lights is being done by the respective departments.Junior engineer of PMC, Saurabh Kumar, said, “Around 2,000 new electric poles have been installed at different locations in the city. The PMC will install 20,000 IoT (Internet of Things)-enabled street lighting systems and automate the existing 81,000 LED lights through the Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS). It will be connected to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of Patna Smart City.”He further said the tenders for the projects over Rs2 crore are approved and finalised by the UD&HD.“A chip will be installed in the old existing street lights. Through the chip, the LED lights will be connected to the CCMS. Then the consumers will not have to make complaints if any street light is non-functional. The PMC will monitor the problem and send the technicians in the respective areas for repair or replacement,” the engineer said.According to Indradeep Chandravanshi, councillor of ward 48, the contract with the old agency was over more than six months ago. The agency got an extension for maintenance of street lights for two more times, but last month a fresh tender was floated.