Let there be light!

KOCHI: The people of Vathuruthy have been wandering in darkness for years now. Quite literally. The main road of the area, once a part of the National Highway, is devoid of street lighting. The reason? It is no one’s responsibility to turn them on! The road stretching from the Naval Base to BOT bridge is the main roadway that connects the residents of Vathuruthy to the rest of Kochi. “The area does not have any street lighting. Pedestrians are attacked by snakes and other creatures in the dark. A few days ago, someone who had an accident in the area was robbed of his belongings from the road,” said Basheer, a resident of Vathuruthy.But the road was not always in this condition. In fact, electric and lamp posts are still in place across the stretch.  Earlier, the road was maintained by the Cochin Port Trust. But the responsibility was later transferred to the PWD. “The road was not all that useful to the Cochin Port Trust. So they transferred it to us,” says PWD executive engineer T I Jose. But while the responsibility of road maintenance was transferred, that of street light maintenance wasn’t. “Street lights do not come under our domain. They are always maintained by the Corporation,” said Jose. But with the Corporation, it is another story all together. While the Vathuruthy area doubtlessly comes under the Corporation, the road does not.  “Since the land is not under our jurisdiction, we cannot build transformers there. The only way to supply electricity would be to lay cables connecting the transformer in Vathuruthy and the street lights,” said councillor for Vathuruthy, N Venugopal. But the road and Vathuruthy are separated by a railway line. “The Railways does not allow us to lay cables beneath the lines since there are oil pipes underneath. So there is no way to provide street lights for the people of Vathuruthy. Unless there is a visit by the Chief Minister or Prime Minister,” says the councillor.At the end of the day, what many would think is an issue of building a transformer and providing some electricity to a few street lights would now be a project in limbo for years to come. Unless of course, as the councilor said, the people of Vathuruthy are blessed by the Chief Minister or Prime Minister’s visit.