Thieves decamping with street lamps, railings on expressways

The government today admitted in Parliament that instances of theft of street lamps, among other items, are taking place on some of the expressways, and work to install CCTV cameras has been initiated to check the menace.

Replying in assertive to a query whether it is a fact that the protective railings and street lamps installed on both sides of some of the expressways are being stolen, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya said that talks had been held with concerned officials of district administration to contain this.

"Consultations have been held with district administration of Palwal, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad, Baghpat and Sonepat and it has been requested to take necessary steps to mitigate such untoward incidents including theft," Mandaviya said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The minister also said that talks were held with district administration for increasing measures like surveillance and police patrol.

"The work for installation of comprehensive intelligence transport system including provision of CCTV cameras has been initiated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 27 had inaugurated India's first smart and green highway, the 135-km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), built at a cost of about Rs 11,000 crore.

The EPE is also the country's first highway to be lit by solar power and there are eight solar power plants on this Expressway, with a capacity of 4000 KW (4 megawatt) for lighting of the underpasses and running solar pumps for watering plants.

The prime minister on the same day had launched the first phase of the 9 km Delhi-Meerut Expressway built at a cost of Rs 842 crore.

There have been reports of theft of solar lights etc on both the expressways.