Private agencies will be entrusted with the annual maintenance of streetlights in the city for a period of 10 years. | Photo Credit: A_MURALITHARAN more-in The Kozhikode Corporation is planning to replace all streetlights in the city with LED lamps. Private agencies will be entrusted with the annual maintenance of streetlights for a period of 10 years. Mayor Thottathil Raveendran announced the plan at an emergency meeting of the council on Monday. Several councillors had complained that streetlights were non-functional in most parts of the city. Councillor C. Abdurahman said that the people in his ward were livid over non-functional streetlights. He also pointed out that LED bulbs had a lifetime of only three months. Opposition leader P.M. Suresh Babu called for a permanent mechanism for maintenance of streetlights and pointed out that not even manufacturers could guarantee the life of bulbs, and that only an annual maintenance contract could solve the issue. Meanwhile, the council approved tenders for several pending projects. Incidentally, contractors had been reluctant to take over the projects. Tender procedures had not yielded sufficient results for important projects, and officials had to go for negotiations. Some projects that got a new lease of life on Monday include a health centre on the TB clinic compound on Francis Road; bus bay near mofussil bus stand, and renovation of Muthalakkulam ground and fish markets at Kallai and Mankavu, besides maintenance or renovation of several roads, footpaths, anaganwadis, schools, and parks.

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