Sodium lamps in the streets of Moulvibazar town have not been lighted one and a half years after their installation as the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is yet to hand over the lamp posts to the municipality authorities.

Meantime, three of the posts have been damaged.

RHD completed installation of 151 sodium lamp posts in Moulvibazar town portion of Dhaka-Moulvibazar highway in the middle of 2008, RHD Moulvibazar office sources said.

The fittings were found all right as the mayor of Moulvibazar municipality inaugurated lighting of the sodium lamps. But as the RHD has not handed over the lamp posts to the municipality authority, the latter could not light the lamps for regular use till now.

Under the same project costing Tk 7 crore, 65 more sodium lamp posts were installed in Court Road area of the town by June this year and they were lighted for testing, RHD sources said.

But these too have not been handed over to the municipality authority.

"After exchange of several letters between the municipality authorities and the RHD, now the latter has agreed to hand over the lamp posts. It is the duty of RHD to light the lamps before handing over the lamp posts. After taking over, the municipality authorities will maintain and take care of them," Moulvibazar municipality Mayor Md Fayzul Karim Mayun said recently.

Moulvibazar RHD Executive Engineer Md Shawkat Ali said, "Installation of sodium lamps in the town portion of Moulvibazar-Dhaka highway was completed before my joining Moulvibazar RHD office. Now we have made a written request to the mayor to take over the lamp posts."