The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the city government and the civic authorities here on appointment of a nodal officer to look into the issue of non-functional street lights in the Capital.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar gave the direction on a plea alleging non-compliance of the court’s December 2017 order to appoint a nodal officer.
The court, during the last hearing, had asked the authorities to appoint the officer and disclose his/her name to the public so that they could directly approach the person concerned with their grievances on street lighting.
South Delhi residents Manjeet Singh Chugh and Ravi Gopal Krishnan had petitioned the High Court alleging that LED lights on public roads and streets in south Delhi were either not working or were not being maintained or replaced if they stopped working.
Officer’s role
The court had directed that it will be the responsibility of the nodal officer, not below the rank of a superintendent engineer, to verify the nature and quality of the street lights being installed on the roads of the city.
Mr. Chugh complained that despite the direction of the High Court, neither the civic agencies nor has the city government had nominated any nodal officer. This, the petitioners said, was despite crores of rupees being spent on LED lighting. “There are electric poles and lights, but they don’t work or are very dim. If they are properly maintained, many crimes can be averted," the petition read.
In the fresh application, Mr. Chugh has sought appropriate action against the authorities concerned for failure to appoint the nodal officer.
