Bengaluru Street Light Faults Must Be Fixed Within 48 Hours Or Contractors Face Penalty: Minister Krishna Byre Gowda

Bengaluru Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has ordered that all street light faults be repaired within 48 hours, warning contractors of penalties for delays. He also criticised GBA officials over the slow LED street light rollout and poor project monitoring.

Bengaluru's ambitious plan to replace conventional street lights with energy-efficient LED lights, a move expected to reduce the city's electricity consumption by 61.01%, has come under sharp scrutiny due to significant delays in implementation. Expressing strong displeasure over the slow pace of the project, Karnataka Minister Krishna Byre Gowda pulled up officials of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and questioned them over the project's poor progress and lack of preparedness during a review meeting.

Two-Month Deadline For Pending Work

During a meeting with GBA electrical engineers on Tuesday, the minister expressed serious disappointment over the delayed implementation of the project.

Reviewing the progress, Krishna Byre Gowda noted that although the work order was issued in May 2025, the project remains far behind schedule. Of the planned 3,02,919 LED street lights, only 2,67,270 have been installed so far.

The Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS), which enables remote monitoring and management of street lights, has seen even slower progress. Only 7,567 of the proposed 24,677 CCMS panels have been installed.

"Officials giving bogus figures is not right," the minister said, expressing his dissatisfaction with the data presented during the meeting.

He has granted a final two-month extension, effective from August 3, 2026, directing officials to complete all pending work within the stipulated period.

Non-Functional Street Lights Draw Maximum Complaints

The minister also highlighted that nearly 34% of all complaints received through Bengaluru's 'Sahaya' app relate to non-functional street lights.

To improve accountability and ensure quicker resolution of public grievances, he directed that:

• All street light complaints must be resolved within 48 hours. 
• Contractors will face penalties if they fail to rectify issues within the stipulated timeframe. 
• The penalty will be calculated based on the number of faulty street lights and the duration of the delay, following which appropriate action will be taken.

'Why Did You Come?': Minister Pulls Up Officials

Krishna Byre Gowda also reprimanded officials for attending the review meeting without basic information about the project.

When he sought details such as the city's current expenditure on electricity for street lighting and the expected savings after the LED conversion, officials failed to provide the required figures.

Visibly upset, the minister said, "You have no basic data and no answers to my questions. Why did you even come to this meeting, just to see my face and leave? This attitude that you can simply come and go as you please in a government job has become common. It is this kind of behaviour from officials that gives the government a bad name."

He further directed officials to immediately remove all conventional street lights and ensure the mandatory installation of automated CCMS panels along with new LED street lights across the city.