Three months after the installation of 7,701 LED street lights was halted by Coimbatore Corporation due to complaints of poor quality materials used for the project, a resolution was passed by Mayor Kalpana Anandakumar on November 1, once again permitting the installation of the lights at ₹20.97 crore which was sanctioned earlier this year.
With this, 6,250 LED streetlight with Energy Saver Mode tech will be installed on the existing poles with electricity connection in North, South, East and West Zones at ₹19.34 crore. The remaining 1,451 lights will be installed on new electric poles for which electricity connection is yet to be given.
However, with the resolution passed and instruction given to contractors and Assistant Engineers to carry out the works within a span of three months, officials are struggling to get approvals from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation to provide new connections and redo connections for the existing poles that are worn out.
“Since contractors have been assigned the task to the apply for new connections, they are submitting proposals for each street, exceeding our budget and complicating the application process. Instead, we will place bulk orders for connection to be provided based on data available now. This will make the process faster,” Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran said.
Quality check
“Unless good quality material is used for this project, there will be recurring need for repair and maintenance which can be a costly affair. Quality check should be made mandatory before any installation work begins,” said P. Thiagarajan, a Coimbatore-based activist.
During the recent council meeting, several councillors raised concern about the inadequate measures taken to check the quality of materials used. “In Podanur, Selvapuram, Rathinapuri, Ganapathy and Sai Baba Colony, most of the LED lights installed in June have stopped working. Unless this is inspected and rectified, installing new lights in other wards will be of no use,” a councillor said.
However, the City Engineer said the repair work had more to do with faulty electric wiring than the quality of fixtures used, but a review would be conducted before proceeding with installing more lights.
