Moodbidri, Mar 28: The condition of most of the electric poles as well as street lights in the Moodbidri TMC limits are not worth mentioning. Most of the poles are leaning and inviting danger, many more street lights are either out of the order or missing.

As many as 27 street lights from Gantalkatte Church to Karinje road, 22 street lights from Mescom office to Biravu , 13 from Thakode to Urpelpade and 10 street light near Mastikatte are in poor state. Over 80 street lights are out of order, while some are in a satisfactory state, are of little help.

In case of sodium lights, over 60 of them do not have their outer covering, while in some places the switches are dangling dangerously. Some street lights are in such a position that they may touch the ground any moment.

Going by the  situation, one can say that the street lights outside the town limits have not been repaired. Moreover, there are no street lights in isolated areas in many places. It has been gathered that the street light maintenance works have been entrusted to a firm named Tulasi from Ullal. However, the condition of the street lights make it evident that the firm was not discharging its duties diligently.

A local shopkeeper says the repeated oral complaints made with the local MLA and state minister Abhayachandra Jain has been futile. Many even feel that the decision of the TMC to entrust the street light maintenance works to a firm in the far off Ullal when there were many licensed electrical contractors in Moodbidri was the reason for the present problem.

If this is the plight of streetlights, the leaning electric poles and the dangling cables reveal the lackadaisical approach of the MESCOM. For instance, the poles near the Ranger store autorickshaw park and the rickshaw park near the TMC market are posing constant danger to the passersby.