Slow pace of probe into LED lights scam?

LUCKNOW:Are Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) officials hesitating to act against the engineers responsible for the Rs 16-crore LED lights (meant for streetlights) going missing from the corporation’s store? Slow pace of probe against the accused in ‘LED scam’ was denting the civic body’s LMC image, said insiders.

Engineers in the LMC’s streetlight department were unable to give an account of the 10,991 LED lights given to the corporation earlier by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). All the 1.61 lakh streetlights of the LMC were to be replaced by LED lights in order to save power.

The matter came to fore when EESL wrote to the LMC in October, seeking utilisation certificate of 10,991 LED lights.

Chief engineer of the LMC’s streetlights department Mohanji Pandey had no clue about the lights.

Insiders said that LMC officials were under constant pressure to save the people involved in the scam as they were ‘highly connected’.

In June, EESL had given 8,591 LED lights (costing Rs 22,000 each) to LMC. These were to be installed before June 21 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Lucknow on the occasion of World Yoga Day.

However, the LMC failed to illuminate the routes with LED lights despite orders from the PMO and the CM’s office. Besides, EESL gave 2,500 more LED lights to the LMC to be installed on major routes of the city after the state cabinet’s directive to illuminate Lucknow with LED lights.

Had these lights been installed, the power bill of Rs 84 crore per annum would have come down to just Rs 40 crore.

Municipal commissioner Udairaj Singh said: “I am still waiting for the final report from the inquiry committee headed by additional municipal commissioner Manoj Kumar. The preliminary report says engineers were able to give details of only 3,365 LED lights in all the zones of the city.”

“The course of action will be decided after full inquiry report is presented,” added Udairaj Singh.

However, insiders said efforts to save the ‘corrupt’ had started as the chief engineer was said to be close to a minister.

The inquiry committee was supposed to complete the probe in a week but has not completed the inquiry even after a month.