Driving in the evenings on Trichy Road is not an easy task. It has nothing to do with the traffic but street lights.
Right from the Ramanathapuram Junction to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Junction the darkness is uniform. But it falls under two categories– darkness from lights that do not glow and darkness from lights that are absent.
From the Ramanathapuram Junction to Sungam Junction there are street lights but they do not glow. From there to the Hospital junction, there are only poles but no lights.
The 80-odd lights on the 40 poles have not been glowing for more than a month now.
There are nearly half-a-dozen gaps on the median for the pedestrians to cross. Spotting them becomes difficult when the on-coming vehicles on the other side use their headlights to dazzle riders. The blame lies with the previous Council, says Mayor S.M. Velusamy.
The Council first approved of outsourcing operation and maintenance of the street lights to an agency. During the term of the contract, the Council passed a resolution for replacing the lamps with LED bulbs.
The cost was prohibitive, he said and added that the present Council did not want it. Mr. Velusamy said that the Corporation had decided to terminate the contract and fit the bulbs it has before switching over the LED.
The Ramanathapuram Junction – Sungam Junction stretch will have lights in the shortest possible time.
Women commuters
On the other stretch, the lights have been absent for more than two months. Women commuters at bus stops are forced to compromise their safety, complains R. Raveendran of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore. There are 14 bus stops between the two junctions.
He wants the Corporation to take steps to fix the lights at the earliest.
Mr. Velusamy says that the Corporation has planned to fix LED bulbs there and the work too will be done at the earliest.
