Team Herald
MAPUSA: Locals allege that streetlights across Porvorim constituency have been non-functional at several places for the last few months, due to which commuting along the ‘dark’ stretches has become difficult.
A lot of problem is being faced by the people who walk or cycle to get to their homes at night. It is dangerous as there are chances of them to get knocked down by vehicles on the road.
When contacted, Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte told Herald that the work of repairing LED streetlights is in progress across Porvorim constituency.
“The department is carrying out the job of repairing the LED lights of the poles identified by the panch members in their respective areas. Most of the poles especially the Ganesh Visarjan areas are lit up. I have been personally following up with the department on this work, keeping in mind the festive season and the security of the common man. I hope the department is able to procure the required spares to repair the LED streetlights within a time frame,” Khaunte said.
Adv Prashant Gadkar, a local, said that half of Porvorim is in darkness for the last couple of months.
“The entire hillock is in dark, but due to the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi they have put up lights in few places, recently. Poles along the KTC depot road were removed in 2014 for the road widening work which was carried out three years later. Footpaths were constructed along the roads which were never used. Now, recently they have dug the entire place to carry out underground cabling work. Poles have been erected but the area is still in darkness for the last two months,” Gadkar said.
Porvorim Block Congress Committee President Adv Shankar Phadte said that streetlights are not working across Porvorim for the last several days.
“For nearly a month, streetlights have not been working at several places in Porvorim. People have been complaining about the inconvenience in the absence of functioning street lights. Salvador do Mundo and Penha De Franca have been in darkness. The lights there were temporarily repaired and now again they are not working,” Phadte said.
