Dark after dark: Rs390 crore spent in 7 years but streetlights on & off

Gurgaon: The city's street lighting infrastructure remains deficient despite a substantial Rs 390-crore budget allocation over seven years. The budget increased from Rs 30 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 60 crore in 2019-20 under the previous regime. The outlay was further raised to Rs 70 crore, which remained stable through 2021-22 and 2022-23. Subsequently, it declined to Rs 50 crore in 2023-24, followed by a drop to Rs 40 crore in this fiscal year. During the previous council's term, poor lighting infrastructure emerged as a pressing problem. As the local body elections approach, residents said, installation of new lights was carried out only in the last six months.
During the previous council's tenure, inadequate street lighting emerged as a key problem. Former councillors, including ex-mayor Madhu Azad, raised the problem during House meetings, requesting street lighting installations in their wards.
Despite a unanimous resolution in the last MCG House to allocate 200 streetlights per ward, the commitment was not fulfilled by the civic body. Residents also pointed out that new streetlights were installed in some areas of the city in the last six months. However, quality of these lights is another major concern since their breakdown is frequent.
"The road linking Ardee City to Sector 56 frequently witnesses darkness due to malfunctioning lights that remain unrepaired for extended periods. Moreover, absence of lights in bylanes in several parts of the city creates opportunities for unlawful activities, posing significant security risks for residents and commuters," said Chaitali Mandhotra, a resident of Ardee City.
She further said the colony has been equipped with new streetlights, but since their installation, there hasn't been a single instance when all lights functioned simultaneously. "If the infrastructure breaks down, it will take a few days to repair it. Now that we have got lights after a long wait, operations and maintenance are extremely poor. There is no accountability and timeline. I complained about the breakdown of streetlights at one stretch. However, Friday was the fourth day that nobody from MCG or the agency outsourced by MCG has come to fix it."
In sectors 1 to 57, MCG is responsible for installation and maintenance of streetlights. However, beyond Sector 58, upkeep of streetlights faces significant challenges due to overlapping responsibilities between HSVP and GMDA.
Bhawani Shankar Tripathi, another resident who lives in Sector 23A, said, "During the past six months, many streetlights were installed. However, the frequency at which these lights break down is higher, which is a major problem. This shows that MCG procured lights of poor quality."
Rimple Yadav, an Independent candidate contesting from ward number 2 and the former councillor of ward number 5, said, "It is a matter of shame that MCG has not been able to provide 200 to 400 streetlights to each ward in all these years. In the last House too, we confronted officials to provide 200 streetlights to each ward. However, it was not provided till our tenure concluded. It was after the House was dissolved that I got streetlights installed in my ward. Moreover, I have recently inquired and got to know that the headquarters in Chandigarh has approved 3,000 streetlights for the city and each ward will be provided 200 to 400 streetlights after the code of conduct is lifted."
MCG executive engineer (electrical) Praveen Dalal said the civic body has got approval from the govt to procure and install 10,000 streetlights for the city. "Once the code of conduct is lifted, we will get these lights installed in all four zones of the city," he added. Despite repeated attempts, TOI didn't receive any comment from GMDA.
Highlighting the ordeal they face while commuting, Ashwani Sindhwani of Indiabulls Centrum Park in Sector 103 said though lights have been installed on the upper Dwarka Expressway, most of the time they are not working. "Residents feel insecure travelling at night as the area is isolated. Also, it becomes very tough for senior citizens and women to drive due to poor visibility because of thick suspended dust caused by large movement of dumpers. Recently, the number of accidents has also gone up. Residents are frustrated due to inaction by the authorities," he added.