All lit up but nowhere to go

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has found to its dismay that too many lights in the city can also lead to trouble. And the trouble-maker this time was no hooligan, it was the Lt. Governor himself, Vijai Kapoor.

On a recent visit to several areas of the city, Kapoor took note of the indiscriminate use of several high mast lights even in places where they were not required.

Pulling up the MCD for ruining the looks of the city by installing lights wantonly, he directed the MCD to henceforth take his permission for installing them. He pointed out that instead of wasting energy, emphasis should have been given to conserving it.

"Such lights should be installed strictly on the basis of need," he said. Apart from the huge expenditure due to the high costs involved in installing them and higher electricity consumption, some of these were not in keeping with the ambience or environment of Old Delhi.

According to the new guidelines framed by the MCD, from now on high mast lights (30 metres in height) having five high-power lights will be installed near flyovers and other conspicuous places, including public premises that do not have proper lighting or are exposed to security hazards.

Semi-high mast lights (16 metres in height) will be installed at parks having an area of more than 1,000 square metres, at road crossings which are more than 60 feet wide, near educational institutions, hospitals, dispensaries and other public utility buildings.

Since the aim of the action plan is conservation of energy and reducing the expenditure on street lighting, the MCD has told its contractors to ensure that high mast lights are of good quality. Also, contractors installing them would be required to give a minimum five-year guarantee.

"We have decided to keep 20 per cent of the contractual amount from the contractor who puts up these lights," said Ram Babu Sharma, MCD's standing committee chairman. "This will put a check on installation of low quality lights."

Till date, the MCD has installed 1,600 semi-high mast poles and 6,825 light fittings in the 12 zones at various municipal parks and roundabouts in the capital. The high mast lights not only illuminate the entire area, but also come as a replacement for a number of mercury and sodium lights.

Although the MCD is responsible for streetlights, the corporation seems to have no hold over monitoring it. There is also rampant stealing of sodium vapour bulbs that cost Rs 419 each. Since 95 per cent of the 300,000 streetlight points in the city have to be turned on and off manually, there is no way of monitoring whether the lower-level staff are doing their job.

Some officials say the problem lies in maintenance. "A workman checking for faults during the day has to switch on the lights for a short time. But if the lights keep burning for a longer duration, then it is obvious that the lineman has forgotten to switch them off in the morning," an official said.