Rabindranath Biswas & Vikramaditya
Port Blair, Aug 18: The issue of dysfunctional street lights in several Wards of the PBMC in Port Blair city has left residents of Port Blair city deeply upset. According to information, streetlights installed in a majority of the wards in the city have been lying dysfunctional for a long time for the want of repair. The Ward Councillors alleged that the matter was brought to the notice of the Municipal Council officials on a number of occasions, but to no avail.
Hence councillors of PBMC allege that street lights are a big problem in all the 24 Wards of Council in Port Blair. People elected them as the councillors could make the basic requirements and facilities available to the people. But unfortunately they aren’t in a position to rectify these street lights owing to a number of constraints, the councillors said.
The present scenario of the street lights is that about 150-200 in each Ward street lights are lying dysfunctional. But it is not their fault which they want to convey to the residents of their respective Ward and hence they held the press conference so that people should know the ground reality behind it, they said.
They clarified that a Port Blair Smart Project Ltd (PBSPL) was instituted for Smart City and PBSPL entered into an agreement with EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.) for providing/manufacturing LED tubes and bulbs for Smart City and a tender was awarded to the company in the year 2017-18, they said. However, the company reportedly ceased to supply LED goods to the board reportedly owing to non-payment to the company, they alleged; however the councillors didn’t want to go deep into the matter; people want that street lights working properly in their areas, they said.
The situation is more grim as it in rainy season and residents may fall prey to snake-bite, centipede-stung etc. Moreover, stray dogs and animals roaming freely, especially on interior roads, also become a major threat when there is no light, they said. Many councillors are confused about what to do and whom to approach now with this complaint.
Residents of the Wards continually reproach them saying that they aren’t capable of not even rectifying the street lights, and they rightly do so as it is their expectation from the councillors as the residents elected them.
But how the councillors will execute the work as it is not in the criterion of the municipality, they said. They further said that it is not their responsibility, it is reportedly the accountability of the Port Blair Smart Project Ltd (PBSPL), they claimed. In fact, they have been giving empty promises to the residents that the lights would be set right, whereas they knew very well that it couldn’t be set right as it isn’t in their capacity. And how long they would be hiding the matter and hence they chose to disclose the fact through the media, they said.
But the fact is that street lights are mandatory, be it rainy or sunny. There may be cases of snake-bite, people may meet with an accident in absence of light and the solution is street lights on their streets, but unfortunately the Ward councillors’ pleas are not being heard by none, they lamented. Amidst all this, EESL filed a suit in the court against the non-payment by the PBSPL and the company will not reportedly manufacture LED goods for the board, they said. On the other hand, the municipality can’t touch the lights installed by the EES
L as it has approached the court and they can’t even do the maintenance of the lights as well, they informed. Thus they are hand-tied and are not in a position to do anything they said.
They also said that in earlier times they could replace the tubes which were cheap but now LED are costly and Port Blair has become a smart city but its lights aren’t glowing; they were not saying anything against any agency/department/authority but they were only putting forth the facts, they said. And the problems should meet with an immediate solution otherwise they will be left with no other option than to sit in the street and hold a protest, they said. They further said that even the Panchayats don’t have such problems with lights as much as the municipal council is having and they were not sure when the manufacturing of LED would start, they fumed.
Lights are dysfunctional for the last 6/7 months and how many days they would tell lies to the residents, they repented. In fact, there is reportedly no role of council, and if they are given funds from Port Blair Smart Project Ltd (PBSPL) they would be able to do something, they said.
They further said that earlier PBMC used provide adequate fund for the street lights and there existed reportedly no problem, but problem reportedly started since installation of LED tubes and it was reportedly claimed that LED would be economical, sodium light would be replaced by it and they agreed to it, but they never imagined that they would have face this problem, they said. People reportedly crowd in front of houses of Ward Councils and keep grumbling, they said.
Ward Councils approached the Chief Secretary a number of times and apprised him of the problems and the CS reportedly assured them that problems would be redressed but it hasn’t been resolved yet, they alleged.
Besides, they repeatedly raised the issue in at least 4/5 council meetings but to no avail, they said. No action from the Secretary of the Council, they even prayed to council higher officials for purchase of lights so that they might do some arrangement, but there was reportedly no response from the higher-ups as well, they claimed.
The Ward Councillors urged the administration to make payment to the EESL (Energy Efficiency
Services Ltd.) so that they may supply light and residents don’t suffer anymore, they said.