Thiruvananthapuram: A week after the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation claimed that the maintenance work of all its streetlights were complete, councillors complained that this was far from the truth. Some roads remain unlit even after Onam, though the maintenance work was supposed to be completed before the festival. Around 300 lights are still waiting for repair along Thirumala-Thrikkannapuram road, which passes through Thirumala, Punnakkamugal and Thrikkannapuram wards, according to BJP’s K Anilkumar, councillor of Thrikkannapuram.
It was the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s delay in purchasing the lights, which delayed the work, he says. “We got the lights and other components just a few days before the festival. Then Onam holidays began, and there was no one at KSEB available to carry out the repairs for a few days. Work can start now,” says Anilkumar. The occasional showers had also impeded streetlight maintenance work, according to UDF councillor V R Sini.
The Corporation had issued the press statement about maintenance work being complete on August 31. “As far as we are concerned, we have ensured that the materials needed for repairs have been despatched,” said an official. In some wards, the maintenance work finished before Onam. BJP’s B Vijayalakshmi, councillor of Poojappura ward, said that she had started preparing the list of faulty lights quite early on. “Fortunately, KSEB officials at Thirumala and Poojappura offices have been very supportive. Still a councillor has to be at it, to ensure that the work is done. In my ward there were not too many faulty lights,” she says.
