Krishna Byre Gowda sets October 31 deadline for replacement of streetlights

Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has set October 31 as the deadline for completing the installation and replacement of LED streetlights across Bengaluru.

On Friday, Mr. Gowda held a virtual meeting and directed officials to physically inspect streetlights after installation and verify their functioning instead of relying solely on reports of completed work.

Contractors would be penalised if lights were not installed properly or failed to function, he said.

He directed the officials to intensify field inspections and penalise contractors for maintenance failures.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has so far imposed fines totalling ₹93.67 lakh on contractors for failing to maintain streetlights. He told the officials to replace sodium-vapour streetlights with LED lights in the East City Corporation jurisdiction.

In a press statement, the Minister’s office said that the directions were issued after three months of reviews of streetlight installation and maintenance. On September 18, he inspected the stretch from J.P. Nagar towards Bannerghatta NICE Road and pulled up officials after finding several streetlights non-functional.

The average number of streetlight-related complaints received through the Sahaaya 2.0 grievance-redressal platform declined from 293 a day in June to 235 in October, according to a report presented in the meeting.

Between September 1 and October 15, 8,186 streetlight-related complaints were registered, of which 6,765 had been resolved, according to Mr. Gowda. He has directed the officials to ensure that complaints were addressed promptly. The total fines imposed on contractors have reached ₹93.67 lakh, including penalties based on complaints registered through the app.

Mr. Gowda told the officials to submit constituency-wise schedules for completing the installation of the Centralised Control and Monitoring System, which will enable automated monitoring of streetlight operations. Separate control rooms are being established across the four city corporations, with the work to be completed by October 31, the Minister said.