Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, held an emergency meeting at the civic body here on Monday to expedite starting the work of laying underground power cables across the city.

Last July, the ₹500 crore project to replace the overhead power cables with a network of underground cables through the Siliguri civic area was announced to be executed by the state power department with financial assistance from the World Bank.

“So far, work has not yet started," the mayor said after the meeting.

"Today, I told officials of every state department concerned that they should make a joint visit in areas where work will start in the first phase on June 7.... The work should commence at the earliest,” said Deb.

Sources said during the meeting, the mayor expressed his disappointment at the delay in starting the project. “It has been almost a year since he announced the project but there hasn’t been an inch of progress,” said a source.

Sources said representatives from the WBSEDCL, the PWD, the PHE and the SMC will do a joint inspection. The mayor has also asked the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to join the visiting teams as GAIL will introduce LPG service to households through underground pipes soon.

SMC officials said there was confusion over the laying of underground power cables on an 8km stretch from Second Mile to Panitanki More via Sevoke Road.

“This road is maintained by the PWD and the WBSEDCL has to get its permission. The PHE has given its nod on the condition that if underground water pipes get damaged, project executors have to repair them,” said the mayor.