Faulty streetlights, dimly-lit roads making life miserable for Ggn residents

GURUGRAM: Non-functional streetlights in major parts of Gurugram continue to pose high risk to safety of travellers on the roads of the Millennium City.

The abundance of dark spots on its roads compounds the fears of working women in the city, who have to travel during the night. Such conditions are responsible for a spike in crime at night in the area.

Exploiting the dimly-lit roads of Udyog Vihar area, an auto driver last year tried to kidnap an intern journalist from outside her office complex.

Faulty streetlights also cause problems to daily commuters, especially those who have to drive in major areas of the city with heavy traffic movement. The problem is also a major cause of rise in incidents of theft and snatching.

Faridabad Road, Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Udyog Vihar, Sector 23 and Sector 10 are the worst-affected areas due to non-functioning streetlights.

Maintenance of streetlights in different parts of the city falls under the ambit four organisations; namely Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam.

None, however, seem to be very keen in immediately solving the problem.

Many of the resident welfare associations in the area have noted that lack of a centralised body for maintenance of streetlights is responsible for poor lighting across the city.

“The presence of multiple agencies is a major reason for poor condition of streetlights in the city. Today, a normal citizen is confused as to which agency should he go to register complaints.

“There is no accountability among these agencies. There are plans for a centralised body being constituted to look after the streetlights, but it has still not been implemented,” said Dhruv Bansal, a member of Gurgaon Citizens Council.

When enquired about the action being taken to resolve the issue, a senior official of Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) said that complaints about poorly or non-functioning streetlights are being addressed.

However, the official conceded that lack of coordination between multiple agencies is a challenge which stalls work.

“All complaints received by MCG are being taken care of by our officials instantly. Areas like Faridabad Road, Golf Course Road where the streetlights are not operational are not in our control though. Areas under HUDA, like Sector 29 and Sector 54 which have poor streetlighting are not under our control,” said the MCG official.