Though electrical contractors have agreed to operate street lights, the city’s lighting problems are far from over. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) ambitious plan to switch all street lights to LED ones has hit a road block.
The civic body had floated a global tender to replace nearly 4.85 lakh sodium vapour lights with LED ones. The International Financial Corporation (IFC), a sister concern of the World Bank, was chosen as the consultant for the project pegged at ₹560 crore.
According to sources in the BBMP, the global tender received two bidders. The financial bid was opened, after a delay on account of the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections. However, the BBMP has now received a complaint about one of the bidders who had claimed to have successfully executed the project in Jaipur. Officials are now verifying the complainant’s claims that the Jaipur project was not executed properly. “We have entrusted a consultant to look into the complaint and submit a report on whether the company had indeed successfully implemented it in Jaipur. We will be able to take a decision on the tender only after receiving the report,” sources confirmed to The Hindu .
Project deadline
Sources also said the project’s deadline was 2019, and with the latest development, it seemed doubtful for the civic body to be able to implement what is touted as the “biggest street light project in the country”. If implemented, the BBMP would be able to save approximately ₹30 crore annually on maintenance, including spend on monthly bills.
Meanwhile, several councillors are upset with BBMP officials for failing to resolve the protest by electrical contractors. A senior councillor, on condition of anonymity, said the matter of payments had been discussed in the previous council meeting and the Commissioner was urged to clear the pending bills on priority. “The file was put up and the Commissioner cleared 50% of the pending bills. What is the use of discussing the issue in the council if this is going to be the response?” the councillor said.
K.M. Raju, general secretary of the BBMP Electrical Contractors’ Association, told The Hindu that the officials, during a meeting on Wednesday, had assured them of meeting again on Thursday. “All our vehicles are still parked in the BBMP headquarters. We have not been called for any meeting still. We will stick to our word and operate the street lights; but we will not undertake any repairs or replace any fittings,” he said.
