MCD halts leave of electrical staff till Deepawali to strengthen street lighting maintenance

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun

Considering that many streetlights get damaged every year due to heavy rainfall, Dehradun municipal commissioner Namami Bansal has stopped all officers and employees of the electrical section of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) from taking leave until Deepawali. She said that the MCD has increased the number of repair teams from 26 in previous years to 40 this year to strengthen streetlight maintenance for upcoming festivals and public safety.

The number of complaints about faulty streetlights, which was over 350, 20 days ago, has now dropped to around 70. The commissioner has directed that all remaining complaints be resolved within three days. Bansal informed that in the last one and a half months, the corporation has installed more than 2,000 new street lights along with repairing old ones.

She also clarified that in many parts of the city, lights have been installed by other agencies such as Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Mandi Parishad and their maintenance is handled by those respective bodies. According to her, the corporation obtained permission from the Police department to repair lights on major flyovers including Ballupur, Balliwala and ISBT. The MCD team repaired street lights on the Ballupur flyover between 4 AM and 9 AM on Sunday.

Bansal said that some claims were made that over 200 streetlights were non-functional in several parts of the city considering which, a field inspection was conducted on Monday. Most lights were found operational, though in some areas electricity supply was disrupted due to scheduled shutdowns by the respective department, she said.

She informed that around 25 lights on the Niranjanpur Mandi to Shimla Bypass road are currently off because the timer installed there was damaged during sewer line work. Repairs will be completed within two days while 35 other lights in the area have already been fixed, she added.