AGRA: The shoddy work done by the public works department (

) under the

Agra

smart city project has proved the idiom ‘haste makes waste’ right. The

that were put up at the eleventh hour ahead of US president

’s visit have started falling off.

This only goes on to expose the sub-standard quality of work done by PWD. At least six street lights were found hanging from the pole in the past one week. They are yet to be repaired.

From Mall Road to Fatehabad Road, new street lights were put up. In the first phase, street lights were installed from the commissioner’s office to post office crossing. The work was done by the PWD.

After the first phase, the work was discontinued. However, ahead of Trump’s visit, the work to install street lights in the middle and on the sides of Fatehabad Road was reinitiated.

According to sources, the work to install the street lights was done hurriedly on orders of the district administration. Standard norms were not followed. Platforms that were developed for the street lights were weak and the high mast street lights were not positioned properly. Within two weeks of its installation, the street lights on Fatehabad Road were found hanging from the pole. Besides, at some places, the street lights were placed in the middle of the footpath.

Nodal officer-in-charge of the Agra smart city project RK Singh said, “Problems related to the street lights on Fatehabad Road have been identified. The repair and maintenance work will be done by the PWD. The issue has been communicated to them. Required work will be done in a time-bound manner.”