GMC clears 5.5cr budget, city to get 7k streetlights

Ghaziabad: The civic corporation will install 7,000 streetlights across the city, nearly 2,000 of them before Diwali. The GMC Board has cleared a Rs 5.5 crore budget for the project.
Mayor Sunita Dayal told TOI the work will be staggered in phases and by Oct 30 more than 2,000 streetlights will be installed. Defunct lights will also be fixed under the project.
Poorly lit stretches in Raj Nagar Extension, Meerut Road Industrial Area, Ambedkar Road, Patek Nagar, New Arya Nagar and Sanjay Nagar have become vulnerable to street crimes and accidents.Residents told TOI that several of them had close shaves while driving down pitch-dark streets.
"It feels so dangerous that I have stopped taking evening walks now. I worry about who is lurking in the dark," Ritesh Singh, a resident of Raj Nagar Extension, said. Singh claimed to have filed several complaints with the civic body, but these elicited no response.
Patel Nagar's Sohan Rastogi said streetlights have a direct impact on crime rates. "Snatchers are always looking for an advantage, and darkness is an advantage," he said.
Shankarshan Choudhary of Meerut Road Industrial Area said about a fortnight ago, he was hit by a biker while crossing the road. "It was a dark patch, and the biker apparently did not spot me. I can't blame him completely, it is the civic body's responsibility to ensure busy stretches are well illuminated."