Councillor Mamta Ashu writes to MC Commissioner & CEO Ludhiana Smart City regarding slow pace of work related to installation of led lights in city

Ludhiana, September 12, 2019: Perturbed over slow pace of work related to the installation of LED lights in the city, MC Councillor Mamta Ashu has written a letter to Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana and CEO Ludhiana Smart City and has sought clarification on some matters related to the installation of LED lights. In the strong worded letter, Mamta Ashu has raised some doubts over the slow pace of work related to LED lights in all four zones (A, B, C, D) of the city. In the letter, Mamta Ashu stated, “As per the terms and conditions of the contract, the implementation timeline of the project was such that the successful bidder was to supply, install, test and commission the LED luminaries and three-phase CCMS panels within 9 months from the date of award of work. She informed that the deadline for all works related to installation of LED lights ended on May 7, 2019, but sadly the company has still not completed the work. Mamta Ashu has demanded that all the MC councillors should be provided information related to the present status of the installation of LED lights in their respective wards, because several areas in the city have no streetlights, which is causing inconvenience to the public. She stated that as a part of its smart city endeavour, Ludhiana has designated/selected ward number 53 and 56 (old) in Zone D for Area Based Development (ABD) under Ludhiana Smart City project. She further said that the installation of LED lights in these wards was to be completed on priority basis. A separate contractor for electrical work was to be hired, who was to be responsible for infrastructure development in areas, including installation of new poles, laying of underground electrical cables and other electrical infrastructure. She has demanded to provide status of this work. She said that as per the contract, the concessionaire was to undertake marking of poles (pole numbering) for each LED luminaire installed in service area of Municipal Corporation Ludhiana and switching point details, prepare switching points based inventory post replacement and to conduct GIS/GPS mapping of street lighting switching points/feeder panels and rationalise the coverage area under the switching points. The concessionaire was to install cable/wires (each for phase and neutral) of required length for connection of luminaire to overhead conductor/power supply cable. No extra charge was to be payable to the concessionaire for this work. She has demanded reply as to what action has been taken against the company for this delay of work. She has also demanded that the MC Commissioner and CEO Ludhiana Smart City should provide information as to whether the contractor is carrying out this work himself or has hired a sub-contractor? She has also sought clarification on the removal and installation of LED lights from roads under National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). She said that it should be clarified by the MC as to whether the total number of streetlights to be removed and installed from roads under NHAI are part of the LED streetlights to be installed by the contractor or they are separate? She said that being an elected representative (Municipal Councillor) of MC Ludhiana, I have been raising people’s concerns/complaints from time to time. She has asked the MC Commissioner and CEO Ludhiana Smart City to get the points raised by her thoroughly investigated and reply as soon as possible.