11K LED streetlights missing in Kanpur

KANPUR:Of the 92,000 energy efficient Light Emission Diode (LED) streetlights installed in Kanpur in the last two years over 11000 have disappeared, an official said.

The ‘disappearance’ came to notice during the ongoing audit of the Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC), officiating in-charge of street lighting RK Pal said and added that municipal commissioner Santosh Sharma has instituted an inquiry and put the renewal of contract with the EESL Company that installed the LED streetlights on hold.

The conventional lights were replaced with the LED with the aim of reducing electricity bill.

“The audit was done by teams of engineers. I have sent my report to the municipal commissioner and EESL,” he said. Maximum 3249 LEDs were missing in zone-3 followed by 2297 in zone-4 and 2284 in zone-5, he said.In zone-1 144 streetlights were missing while 987 and 220 were missing from zone-2 and 6 respectively.

While the officials are not ready speak on this issue, the leader of Samajwadi Party in KMC house Suhail Ahmad called it a scam. “We will take up the issue in the general house meeting.

All those responsible for this scam should be accounted for,” he said.The SP corporators with support from other parties are preparing the list of LED streetlights, which were installed in each of 110 civic wards. The numbers will be matched with the official figures,” he said.

THE ‘DISAPPEARANCE’ CAME TO NOTICE DURING THE ONGOING AUDIT OF THE KANPUR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (KMC)