LET THERE BE LIGHT

As many as 7,701 lamps and 2,791 poles are needed to light up the dark spots in the city, a gap analysis conducted by the civic body shows.
The city corporation had invited feedback from residents in neighbourhoods that require street lights, commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said. “We had received a communication from the directorate of municipal administration to identify the gaps and based on it, a survey by our engineers was conducted recently. Based on the survey, an estimation has been prepared and sent to the directorate of municipal administration. Once funds are released, installation of new lamp posts will be carried out in a phased manner,” he told TOI.
The corporation had received more than 250 suggestions from residents. “People continue to fill the Google Sheets we set up on the corporation website,” the commissioner added.
While there are 97,000 street lights in the city, developing areas require more. “New layouts are coming up in the east zone, in areas such as Kalapatti and Vilankurichi. Those in north and south zones also require lights,” a corporation official said.
An engineering official in the north zone said that as per the norm, there should be a gap of 30 metres between two street lights. “We plan to set up new posts if gap between two posts is 60 metres or more. The gap is big in newly-developed area and old area. New layouts, where street lights have not been installed, have been noted down in the survey conducted by assistant engineers. The Google Sheets is still open. Those in need can still make use of it. Details such as name, phone number, street and required number of posts and landmark details need to be submitted.”
The corporation had conducted a survey a few months ago to find the dark spots in the city to set up street lights using the Nirbhaya fund. Eleven dark spots were identified and installation of 142 street lights was proposed, a corporation official said.