In its written response to K. Durairaj, a Maniakarampalayam resident, the Coimbatore Corporation’s North Zone, has said that it has repaired the streetlights on the graveyard road there and that the lights are glowing well.
The North Zone sent this response on November 8, after Mr. Durairaj sent a petition on October 11 complaining that the nine streetlights on the road leading to the graveyard have not been glowing for over a year.
But on Wednesday, nearly a fortnight after the letter, The Hindu found that there were no bulbs and that the Corporation had just begun the process of fitting the bulbs to the holders.
“It is only today [Wednesday], after more than a year, that we see the van to repair the streetlights,” says S. Sakthivel, who runs a small scale industry there. He has been working in the area for close to 10 years.
P. Palraj, a worker, who lives nearby, says that women residents of the area find it difficult to reach the main road or their homes after dusk because it is too dark. And an hour or so later, it becomes all the more difficult because the graveyard at the end of the road turns into a makeshift liquor bar.
Those who frequent the graveyard to drink continue late into the night. They can be seen moving around in inebriated condition, says M.R. Damodaran, who lives close to the graveyard.
It is because of the absence of streetlights on the street, he says and adds that the nine lights on the road are faulty. And a few of them are even damaged. The misuse of the graveyard is also because there is no gate. The persons who were engaged in fitting the bulbs and repairing the lights say that they have only recently got orders to execute the work. They are employees of the contractor, the Corporation has engaged to maintain and repair street light in the North Zone. Mr. Durairaj says that the North Zone has furnished incorrect information, which is very bad. “They say the lights are glowing but where are the bulbs? Assuming that the lights are glowing, as mentioned, why has the Corporation sent the men to fit the bulbs?”
Assistant Commissioner, North Zone, M. Sundararajan has promised to look in to the issue. Chairman, North Zone, P. Rajkumar says he will ensure that all the nine lights on the graveyard road glow at the earliest.
