By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: There has been a visible transformation in the street lighting of the city over the past few months and the situation is far better than what it used to be earlier when most areas of the city would remain under total darkness in absence of proper street lights.
The improvement comes about with the introduction of Light-emitting diodes – better known as LEDs that have been put up in different locations of the city as decided by Urban Affairs department, MeECL and non-conventional energy department last year.
Initially, the State Government had planned to put up as many as 4180 lights to illuminate the Greater Shillong area.
Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Secretary, T Lyngwa on Sunday said that there is a plan to install 1200 lights in the first phase of the project and so far 80 percent of lighting has been completed.
“Initially we started off by replacing those lights which have become non-functional,” he added.
According to Lyngwa, installation of lights in areas like Jaiaw, Mawkhar and Laitumkhrah has been completed and now they will be installing lights in remaining areas like Bishnupur and Laban. The entire installation cost is being shared by the Central Government as well as the Urban Affairs department and out of the total cost, Rs 90 lakh and Rs 60 lakh will be borne by the Shillong Municipal Board and the MUDA respectively.