Poor streetlights: HC favours appointment of nodal officers

The Delhi High Court today asked the Delhi government and civic bodies here to appoint a nodal officer to look into the issue of non-functional streetlights in the national capital.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also asked the authorities to disclose the name of the nodal officer, so that public can directly approach the officer concerned with their grievances on poor street lights.
The bench said it will be the responsibility of the nodal officer, not below the rank of a superintendent engineer, to also verfiy the nature and qulaity of the streetlights being installed on the roads and areas of the city.

The court's direction came on a plea of two south-Delhi residents -- Manjeet Singh Chugh and Ravi Gopal Krishnan, who had alleged that LED lights on public roads and streets in south Delhi are either not working or are not being maintained or replaced if they stop working.
The court disposed of the plea, which said several crimes are committed on Delhi roads because they continue to be dark.
"There are electric poles and lights but they never work or are very dim. If they are properly maintained, many crimes can be averted," the petition has said, highlighting how vast stretches of roads remained dark despite crores of rupees being spent on LED lighting.