Lucknow, May 10 (IANS) At least 145 fancy streetlights worth Rs 7.25 lakhs installed in Lucknow’s Vrindavan Yojana during the G20 and Global Investors Summit (GIS) in February, have been stolen.
The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) had installed these lights as a part of the city’s beautification drive.
The revelation came during a survey conducted by the civic body following complaints of missing lights.
The LMC lodged a complaint with the SGPGI police station on Tuesday night in this regard.
About 45 streetlights were stolen from Sector 16 of Vrindavan Yojana, followed by 37 from Sector 11, 29 from Sector 12, 14 from Sector 20, 11 from Sector 17 and nine from Sector 18 of Vrindavan Yojana.
Chief engineer, streetlight department, LMC, Sanjay Katiyar said: “Around 1,150 streetlights worth Rs 50 lakhs were installed in various sectors of Vrindavan Yojna as part of the beautification drive. The cost of each light ranged from Rs 3,000 to 7,000.
“We conducted the survey after receiving complaints from residents that some areas are lying in the dark for the past few days due to lack of streetlights. Our engineers inspected the areas and found the complaints to be true.
“The lights were probably stolen recently when officials were busy with local body elections in the city on May 4.”
Additional Municipal Commissioner, Pankaj Singh, said a probe has been ordered and they have asked the police to lodge an FIR and increase patrolling so that more streetlights are not stolen.
After the G20 and GIS events, potted plants had been stolen and the miscreants were later arrested in Sitapur.
–IANS
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