BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday assured the Legislative Assembly that three lakh LED streetlights will come up in Bengaluru by December-end, failing which, action will be taken against the contractor. He also directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to replace malfunctioning streetlights.
“The contractor will install the streetlights in five phases. I have directed them to install at least three lakh streetlights by December-end. Or else we can cancel their order,” he said, adding that there is a clause in the agreement for the government to levy Rs 1 lakh penalty per week if the contractor does not follow. Bommai’s reply came after legislators, cutting across party lines, expressed concern over dark roads.
Dasarahalli JDS MLA R Manjunath pointed out that a private firm was entrusted with installing 4.85 lakh streetlights in BBMP limits, under a private-public partnership in 2019. It’s been nearly two-and-half years, but work has not started, he said.
“The Peenya industrial area falls in my constituency. After 6.30 pm, workers from industries take roads which do not have streetlights. Many of them fall as these roads are also dug up in some stretches,” Manjunath said.
Senior Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy said this is the situation not just in one constituency, but in all the 28 in the city. “No grants have been given to repair existing streetlights as officials said a global tender has been called to install LED lights. We were told they will get no grants till then,’’ he said.
BJP MLA Ravi Subramanya said they feel so helpless as people have been asking for streetlights for more than one year. Another BJP MLA, Aravind Limbavali, said wherever there are roads, the BESCOM or BWSSB would have dug them up, and without streetlights, these pose a threat to people.