Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Mar 25: A policy on maintenance of streetlights will be brought soon, chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday March 24. A follow-up for the last two years to bring in the policy is taken up by power minister Nilesh Cabral, Sawant said.

All streetlights installed by various departments, including tourism, Goa State Urban Development Agency, Goa Tourism Development Corporation and so on, will be taken over by the power department for maintenance once the policy is out.

Sawant further assured the MLAs that the government is in the process of carving a plan for the laying of cables, water pipelines and sewerage networks.

Ponda MLA Ravi Naik placed the fear and anxiety in the minds of the people in Ponda people in Ponda over the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for the state where the consumers are asked to bear the cost for supply and installation of over 100KV separate transformers and replacement and erection of new electric poles. Additionally, replacement of streetlights and bulbs too will have to be borne by consumers. Cabral responding to that said that streetlights are to be installed and maintained by the local body. The public are not liable to pay for the installation or maintenance of streetlights.