Some councillors of Dehradun locked the office of the EESL Company hired by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) on Friday for what they alleged as an improper installation and delay in maintenance work of the street lights in the city. The corporation last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EESL Company for the installation of 46,000 LED street lights along with the maintenance of damaged lights for the next seven years. However, many councillors have regularly complained against the improper behaviour and work culture of the company to the senior MCD officials.

The BJP councillor from Salawala, Bhupendra Kathaith said that despite the orders of the senior officials of the corporation, the company has repeatedly failed in meeting its target of installing and repairing street light lights.

“There are several areas across the city where the street lights are yet to be installed, especially the rural areas. These areas remain in the dark at night. Several street lights are still damaged in many wards but despite calling the officials of the company several times a day, they do not respond. Public accuse us of not taking cognisance of their complaints despite being public representatives,” stated Kathaith. He informed that after the councillors had complained to mayor Sunil Uniyal 'Gama' last month about the issue, he along with the MCD commissioner held a meeting with the officials of the EESL company where they assured the installation of the LED street lights and repairing of damaged lights in 10 days.

He said, “It has been over a month now but the condition is still the same. We actually visited the company’s office on Friday to talk to the management about our issues but they fled as soon as they saw us. So we decided to lock the office and handed over the key to deputy municipal commissioner Rohitash Sharma. We have asked Sharma and the mayor to let the office open only when the councillors will be allowed to interact with the company officials in person.” The leader of opposition in the corporation, Bijendra Pal Singh said that they also recently complained to MCD senior officials about the same but they failed to take any concrete decision so far.