CM ‘displeased’ over poor streetlighting, waste mgmt

FOCUS ON CIVIC CONDITIONS Principal secretary to chief minister sends a strongworded letter to municipal commissioner

LUCKNOW: Civic polls have brought the focus back on basic civic conditions like waste removal and streetlights.

Garbage strewn in various localities of the state capital and even many VVIP roads sans streetlights have drawn the ire of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Principal secretary to chief minister SP Goyal sent a strong worded letter to municipal commissioner on October 25 about Yogi’s displeasure over poor condition of streetlights and rubbish removal in the state capital.

Giving details about the laxity, Goyal said streetlights in many areas including VVIP zones were not lit during night while they were switched on during daytime.

He directed municipal commissioner Udairaj Singh to personally check the condition of streetlights.

The letter galvanized Singh, who on October 26 inspected all the VVIP areas from Shaheed

Path to airport and found the areas dark.

Upset with the situation, Singh hauled up chief engineer street lights and rubbish removal Mohanji Pandey.

Singh gave him adverse entry on October 26 for blackout on Shaheed Path and associated VVIP areas despite being informed through a letter about the VVIP movement on the route.

Incidentally, Pandey has now received three adverse entries in

his service record within a month, which is a rarity, for laxity. Two adverse entries were awarded to him by minister of urban development Suresh Khanna on different dates for unsanitary condition.

Pandey, meanwhile, remains unfazed saying he cannot alone be held responsible for the poor situation of streetlights in the city.

“How can one man ensure that all streetlights are working? It is a team effort. I am trying to find the gaps in the system and plugging them one by one,” he said.

However, insiders say that engineers of the department are not worried despite warnings by the urban development minister and municipal commissioner.

LMC chief Udairaj Singh on the other hand told Hindustan Times, “I had written three letters to chief engineer street lights for ensuring 100% illumination of lights on the VVIP route and other areas but to no avail. Hence, I forced to take action against him. It is the time to get in the field or face action.”

As per sources, around 40% streetlights out of 2.41 lakh points in the city are not lit due to either shortage of bulbs or repair materials.

With the civic elections round the corner, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers feel that poor civic conditions might lead to adverse results.

“This (civic problems) can cause adverse situation for BJP in the coming civic polls,” said BJP corporator Rajnish Gupta Bobby.