The defunct street lights from CBD Belapur to Kalamboli junction on Sion Panvel Highway, from now, will be maintained by the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC). The decision was taken after a joint inspection carried out by the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) and PMC last week.
For quite some time, the PWD was in touch with the PMC regarding the transfer of maintenance of street lights with the local body. PWD has already handed over the maintenance work from Vashi toll plaza to CBD Belapur to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC).
While talking to the media, Sanjay Jagtap, city engineer-PMC, said that there has been constant correspondence from the PWD to the civic body for the handing over of the street lights.
“A joint survey was completed recently for maintaining the street lights. Efforts are being made by PMC to complete the next process as early as possible, and install fresh lights for better illumination of the highway,” said Jagtap.
He added that the municipal commissioner has been monitoring the project and further processes will be completed under his guidance. Apart from the street lights, the signals will also be maintained by the civic body from now on.
According to the traffic police, the darkness on the highway has also led to an increase in the number of minor accidents. At present, many of the street lights are defunct for a long time.
Taking all these factors into consideration, both the agencies carried out the inspection and now, the maintenance of the street lights will be carried out by the PMC.
As per the agreement, PMC will take up the maintenance where the NMMC’s jurisdiction ends in Belapur till the Kalamboli circle. The Mumbai-Pune expressway starts at the Kalamboli circle.
Earlier, the PWD and NMMC entered an agreement for the maintenance of street lights. NMMC has already floated a tender for the upkeep of street lights from Vashi toll plaza to Belapur.
