Data of the last two three years reveals a regular decrease of intensity of light from streetlights erected along the roadsides in the State capital. Several irregularities and corruption existing at the department level of Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is responsible for the degrading qualities of the street lights, State sources.
As per the sources in the MCD, various scams are being orchestrated at the company and department level of the MCD in erecting the street light poles in the State capital.
An official on condition of anonymity revealed that quality of light bulbs used for street lights is of third grade.
Several kinds of frauds are being done while purchasing the light and electricity materials. Most anomalies are being orchestrated in the labelling of the brand or tag name of the electricity materials. Generally the brand name is the original one while the material inside including the bulb is of local and third grade quality. The life span of these bulbs is also of only some days. The size of the street lights are also being reduced considerably now a days. Earlier the street lights used to be of much wider shape and size. Thus the company involved in selling the electric material makes much profit.
Meanwhile, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari at MCD, Ashok Kumar maintained that MCD has planned to erect total 27,000 street light poles in the state capital this year. He stated that electric lights costing around Rs65 lakh have been purchased for the second phase and lights amounting to around the same amount
were purchased in the first phase too. last year a budget of around Rs2.5 crore was sanctioned for erecting street light poles in the State capital.
Kumar also stated that erecting 27,000 light poles in the town is not an easy task and would be performed in many phases and the work is in progress.