Who will fix lights in Amritsar? Defunct streetlights dim the glow of festivities in city

Diwali is known as the festival of lights but the darkness on the streets threatens to cast a shadow on the festivities as a number of street lights installed on the main roads and in residential localities are lying defunct. On Tuesday evening, the lights in one of the major markets on Lawrence road were not functional. Around one lakh street lights installed in the city are being managed by various departments including the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL), Public Works Department and Amritsar Improvement Trust. The residents often complain of defunct street lights. On some of the roads, the lights often go out at night. Amid all this, the common man can’t figure out as to who will fix the dysfunctional street lights? The Amritsar Smart City Limited hired a private firm Samudra, which installed 66,993 LED lights during the past few years.

All our lights are functional in the city. One or two per cent lights might be defunct due to technical error and they would be repaired soon. During high temperature in summers, our wires melt. Otherwise in winter, we face problems only during foggy season. Theft of wire also leads to dysfunctional lights. Maninder Singh, in-charge, Samudra

The firm replaced Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) lights with LED lights and also took up their maintenance. The street lights on the 35-km Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), installed by PWD, are now maintained by the Municipal Corporation. The street lights in Ranjit Avenue, Bhai Gurdas Ji Nagar (New Amritsar) and GTB Nagar, Mall Mandi are maintained by the Amritsar Improvement Trust. Similarly, lights on outer city roads such as Airport Road, Fatehgarh Churian Road are maintained by PWD. Some private contractors have also been hired by the MC for the maintenance of street lights. The lights installed on the bypass road are being operated by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and most of the time, these lights are not operational. Road stretches and localities maintained by the AIT, PWD and NHAI often face the problem of defunct street lights.

Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities claimed that 95 per cent lights installed in the city by the civic body or Samudra are operational. The officials claimed that in case of a technical snag, damage or theft of wire, they try to repair the lights within 24 hours.

Sandeep Singh, Superintending Engineer of MC, said, “The MC and ASCL have around 85,000 street lights in the city. Samudra is taking care of their maintenance. We get 10 to 15 complaints daily and address all these within 24 hours. We use PVC-coated copper wires for street lights. The theft of wire is quite common. Now, we have started using silver wire to avoid theft cases. We make special arrangements on Diwali festival. Several roundabouts and government buildings were lit on Gurpurb of Guru Ramdas.”

The ASCL installed 300 high mast and 900 mini high mast lights at key locations in the city. Maninder Singh, in-charge, Samudra, said, “All our lights are functional in the city. One or two per cent lights might be defunct due to technical error and they would be repaired soon. During high temperature in summers, our wires melt. Otherwise in winter, we face problems only during foggy season. Theft of wire also leads to dysfunctional lights.”