Street lights on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway have not been working for the last three and a half years
Street lights are not working on the 4.5-kilometer stretch of the National Highway (NH) 275 near Kumbalgudu because of the ongoing construction of the flyover.
Dilip Bilton Limited Company has the tender for the Kumbalgudu flyover. The Construction started in mid-2019. The flyover opened in 2022, but the street lights are still not working.
According to the contractor Shishu Pal, it will take another three or four months to install the transformers and connect all the street lights to it.
Shishu Pal said, “We are doing our best to get the full work done as soon as possible but we are not able to meet our deadline because of extensive paperwork.”
He added that the paperwork is being delayed by the government.
According to the Kumbalgodu Police station, there is a 50 percent increase in fatal and non-fatal accidents on the 4.5 km stretch with 35 deaths since 2019.
The electrical engineer, Akash K, present at the site said, “The work has been delayed because of the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company [BESCOM]. They are not able to provide electricity to the transformer.” He also said that they have installed four transformers to provide electricity to the poles, but BESCOM has always fallen short in supplying power to them.
An Electrical engineer from BESCOM (Kengeri) Sam Vaid, blamed the contractors, in turn, for the absence of lights. “They have installed the transformers but they are not working. So we are not able to provide electricity,” he said.
He added, “The company has not done their work on time. They are renovating the flyover even after its inauguration. No street light on the National Highway is an issue that should be solved at the earliest.”.
Deepta, a regular commuter on the stretch said, “I live near Kengeri and for I use this road frequently. The absence of lights makes it very scary to drive there at night. I have seen that accidents happen on the way frequently.”
