People finding it difficult to move in the dark

Vizianagaram: The people in the city are finding it difficult to move around in the new colonies after sunset as there are no street lights in those areas.  Even the dogs and pigs are coming in the way causing accidents on roads. Moreover, they fear attacks from these stray animals.  The municipal corporation is ignoring the duty of maintenance of street lights.  

The company to which the municipal corporation had outsourced to maintain  the street lights has abandoned its duties and municipal authorities are in no position to question them. Most of the street lamps in ring road area from Balaji Junction to the Sun School are not functioning and they are not being replaced by new ones. 

Gradually, the number of defused LED bulbs is rising as the municipal officials are not responding in time.  The municipal corporation has around 1.2 lakhs of street lights in all the offices and roads but nearly 4,000 lamps have been damaged in areas like Natraj Colony, Balaji Nagar, Gajula Rega, Jammu and Narayanapuram areas of the city.

In fact, thousands of street lamps were damaged during the Hudhud cyclone in the year 2014 and no repair works were taken up due to the negligence of the municipal authorities. Later, the municipal corporation got a huge number of LED lamps under the street lighting national programme. All the normal lamps are being replaced by the LED lamps to minimise the power bill every month. Later, the corporation had appointed a private organisation on a contract basis to pay Rs 14 lakh for seven years. 

The firm should change those defused lamps within 48 hours of receiving the compliant. However, even after one month, the firm is not responding. On the other hand, the number of stray dogs is on the rise in the town and people dare not to come out of their homes during the night fearing stray dogs. 

Speaking to The Hans India here on Thursday, P Nagamani , a housewife of Natraj Colony said: “Daily, I need to go out with my little daughter for her tuition and bring her back as she is scared to walk  in the dark as there are  many street dogs moving around”. The condition is very bad in our colony, she added.  

P Rama Krishna, municipal chairman said: “We instructed the out sourcing agency to replace the old lamps but they have not yet responded. We received several complaints on this issue.  We will definitely solve the problem within a week.”