Thursday 06 Feb 2025

Will Lighting Duty Act light up roads?

THE GOAN NETWORK | AUGUST 17, 2022, 12:30 AM IST
Will Lighting Duty Act light up roads?

MARGAO

Will street illumination at least now light up the major roads and ring roads with the Goa Public Lighting Duty Act coming into force, and stop road accidents and loss of lives?

PWD officials say it has dashed off letters to the electricity department to set up the power infrastructure to illuminate roads. Electricity department officials, on the other hand, concede that the creation of infrastructure is now its responsibility after the Goa Public Lighting Duty Act is in force.

The officials, however, tend to remind everyone that the Act mandates local bodies, including panchayat and municipalities, besides other government departments to submit their requisitions with resolutions to the department before the ball is set rolling for the infrastructure.

Even as officials of the two departments are playing the blame game, motorists face the risk of driving on routes without street illumination.

Consider this: It’s has been over a decade since the eastern bypass from Nuvem junction to Arlem junction was commissioned, and now plays host to heavy-duty traffic, but the road is still awaiting street illumination.

That’s not all. The Margao-Comba ring road, which was commissioned over three years now on the plea the High Court is monitoring the construction of the road, is still without street lighting. In the absence of street illumination, both the eastern bypass and the ring road have become garbage dumps with unscrupulous elements disposing of waste taking advantage of darkness.

When The Goan called up Executive Engineer, PWD, Roads Prasad Panandikar to shed light on the absence of street illumination on the eastern bypass between Nuvem and Arlem junction, besides the Margao-Comba ring road, he said his office had just three months ago sent a reminder to the power department to take up the illumination work.

“My office had been after the power department to take up the illumination of the ring road, which poses danger to the motorists and pedestrians alike, but in vain,” Panandikar said.

As far as the eastern bypass between Nuvem-Arlem junction road is concerned, Panandikar said he had proposed to the power department around half a decade ago, when he was the Executive Engineer, PWD, NH, to take up the work, but the proposal did not find favour with the electricity officials.

“I have no idea about the status of the proposal now,” he said.

Incidentally, when The Goan tried to find out the status of street light illumination on the eastern bypass, Margao ring road and other roads, a concerned power official pointed out that the Goa Public Lighting Duty Act provides for the creation of street lighting infrastructure along the roads. He, however, hastened to add that the process of setting up street illumination will be set in motion only if the local bodies and government departments make the necessary requisition to the power department with resolutions.



Creation of infra for public lighting

under Goa Public Lighting Duty Act

- Sanction of works: (i) For extension of Low Tension (LT) network for new streetlights along the roads in the municipal or panchayat area, the resolution to that effect shall be submitted by the municipal corporation/council or panchayat concerned to the Executive Engineer or Assistant Engineer of the respective area. The EDG shall execute the work of extension of the LT network after sanctioning the estimate as per the delegation of Technical and Financial powers of Technical Officers of the Department as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) manual in force. The energy-efficient LED fixtures shall be provided on poles as per requirement.

- (ii) New proposals of the other government departments and corporations for public lighting shall be submitted to EDG. The execution of such proposals shall be done only on depositing of funds with EDG by a government department or corporation concerned as the case may be.

- (iii) The new proposals for public lighting by the Central Government or under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme or any other Central scheme shall be executed by EDG after required funds are made available to EDG on sanctioning of the estimate.

- (iv) The uniformity in energy-efficient streetlights fixtures and poles shall be maintained by EDG.



Part-commissioned western bypass project still awaiting illumination

MARGAO

Strange it may seem, but true that the government has bulldozed the western bypass project, but the part-commissioned project is still awaiting illumination.

One would come across street light poles and lamp fixtures dotting along the western bypass stretch between Navelim and Benaulim during a drive down the newly-constructed four-lane road. Motorists, however, have complained that they find it difficult to drive along the road for want of illumination.

When The Goan called up a senior PWD, NH official to shed light on the street light illumination, he was candid enough in admitting that though the infrastructure is in place, they are not functioning for want of power connection and other minor works.

“The street lights on the western bypass are not functioning on account of issues such as digging of the road and setting up of panels. We are aware of the situation and the contractor is on the job to illuminate the street lights at the earliest,” he said.

The official added: “Since the road has been laid recently, we have advised the contractor to use breakers instead of heavy machinery to dig the roads. All these issues should be hopefully addressed at the earliest.” 

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