Noida: The Noida Authority denied that none of the 15 halogen lamps installed on the walls of the Rajnigandha underpass was working, saying they had been switched off around 7.30am as a “routine affair”.Officials in the Authority quashed all allegations of negligence levelled by the Apeejay School management, which also said there was no sign board at the mouth of the underpass to warn vehicles of the mounds of sand ahead.The officials said repair work had started on the pillars of the underpass in the last week of October. But after the district administration imposed a blanket ban on all construction activity from November 1, debris lying along the stretch had been removed, the officials claimed. “Following the ban, we had removed all debris and construction material from the site. We brought some material back on Friday,” said NK Mittal, senior manager of the Authority’s work circle 1 under whom the pillar repair project was being undertaken.Mittal said the construction material would not have been lying there had labourers returned from their Chhath puja leave. Repair work on the pillars was to begin on Saturday.Mittal also said the Noida Authority had placed a sign board warning of construction material kept ahead. When the accident happened around 7.45am, there was no such board at the spot. “We had placed a board marked ‘diversion’ at the site,” said Mittal, agreeing that the board was not there on Saturday morning when officials visited the site for an inspection. “We are investigating why and when the diversion board went missing. We will take strict action against the contractor or labourers found guilty,” he added.Another violation of green norms that has come to the fore is that the mounds of sand hadn’t been kept covered at the underpass. Asked about the halogen lamps not working, Mittal said: “The lights are all switched off in the morning between 7.15-7.30am. This is a routine affair,” he said.Mittal, however, did not clarify why lights were still switched off at the same time when visibility reduced considerably during winters.

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