New LED lights wait for Mayor

Residents complain that a year after they were installed, the lights are yet to be put to use.

The lights were installed in March 2014. Photo: R. Ravindran

A 35-year-old woman lost her gold chain (4 sovereigns) in a chain-snatching incident at GNG Colony, I Street, Varadharajapuram, Ambattur Industrial Estate, nearly eight months ago. The incident shook her family, which shifted to a better-illuminated area in Teacher’s Colony.

Residents feel that many of such crimes could have been prevented had the newly installed LED street lights on the first, second and third streets in GNG Colony had been put to use. Though the lights were installed in March 2014, they have not been inaugurated. They are waiting for a date when the Mayor could inaugurate them.

“It’s going to be nearly a year since the new street lights were installed,” said T. Gunaseelan, a long-time resident of the area.

Every day, hundreds of residents use the street lanes to reach the Chennai-Tiruvallur High (CTH) Road to board buses at the nearby Canara Bank bus stop. Further, the street lanes make an easy route for thousands of workers, especially women, who work in a cluster of industrial units in Ambattur.

The railway station is located behind Varadharajapuram and is just a short walk away. Also, many commuters board buses on the CTH Road to reach the industrial units taking these street lanes. “Except for Bazaar Road, all the street lanes look deserted after sunset. Even if we cry for help, it is difficult for anyone to come to our rescue,” said S. Vaishnavi, a commuter from Perambur.

After repeated requests from the residents and from the GNG Colony Residents Welfare Association, the Corporation zonal officials led by its elected chairman, Joseph Samuel, in Ambattur, allocated funds to replace the old and rusted sodium lamps with modern LED lights within the zonal limits.

Interestingly, except for the GNG Colony, all the areas where the new lights have been installed are functioning. In fact, new street lights in Teachers’ Colony, where the residence of the zonal chairman is located, are working while GNG Colony, just a stone’s throw away, remains dark after sunset. “We would take steps to operate the new lights soon,” said a Corporation official.