Two newly launched four-lane roads in the coal town — Bank More to Patherdih (25.71km) and Shramik Chowk to Barwaddah (5.5 km) — will soon be illuminated with hundreds of LEDs.
Altogether 672 streetlights on 336 poles will be installed on both the arteries by the district mineral development trust at a cost of Rs 3.78 crore. Surya Roshni, a private firm which has bagged the contract to install the lights, is likely to complete the project by February-end.
Dhanbad Municipal Corporation assistant engineer Jai Mahto told The Telegraph on Monday, “Two LEDs are being fixed on each of the 336 poles. While 136 poles are coming up between Shramik Chowk and Barwaddah, 200 are being installed on the Bank More-Patherdih stretch.
“Currently, drilling is underway on the road dividers on both the arteries for fixing the poles. The distance between two poles will be around 28 to 30 metres, good enough to brighten the entire stretch at night,” said Mahto.
The four-laning-cum-broadening of the Bank More to Patherdih road was carried out at a cost Rs 44.83 crore by the state’s road construction department through contractor Bhalotia Construction.
The other project, also under the same department, was handled by private agency Daroga Pradhan at a cost of Rs 34.43 crore.
The Bank More-Patherdih project, which was completed in March, comprised four-laning of a 4.4km stretch between Bank More and Katras More in Jharia and broadening and strengthening of a 21.37km stretch between Katras More in Jharia and Patherdih.
The width of each of the lanes from Hotel Skylark to Katras More, a distance of 4.4km, is seven metres while it is 10 metres for each lane from Katras More to Patherdih.
The width of a lane from Sharamik Chowk to Barwaddah is nine metres.
Although a few hundred streetlights had been installed on both the roads earlier, those had to be pulled down before the roads were widened.