An Express series | Delhi in the dark: Inadequate street lighting in the national capital

As earlier reported by The Indian Express, the Kanjhawala-Sultanpuri stretch where Anjali Singh’s body was dragged underneath a vehicle had vast areas shrouded in darkness.

At the Raj Ghat signal towards Mahatma Gandhi Marg. Photos: Gajendra Yadav

Starting today, The Indian Express travels on prominent roads in the national capital at night — starting with the stretch between the Delhi Secretariat and Raj Ghat via Satyagrah Marg and Mahatma Gandhi Marg; and RK Puram Metro station to Swami Venkateshwara Marg on Africa Avenue Road — to shed light on the dark spots.

A VIP stretch

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats run the national capital from the Delhi Secretariat. When The Indian Express started off from the building, a small portion of this stretch till Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium was brightly illuminated and decorated with lamps and designer lights. Around 500 metres later, the road descended into darkness.

From there, till about 1.3 km from Sachivalaya Road below Ring Road Bypass towards Raj Ghat Depot, there was darkness. It is on this road that the Public Works Department’s Central and New Delhi road maintenance division office is located. On the left side from where the PWD office is situated, four lights were found working, while on the right side, three lights — two small ones and a taller pole — were not working.

The stretch till Satyagrah Marg has 34 light poles — 26 on the right side (including four tall ones) and 8 on the left. Of the light poles installed on the right side, just three were working. Five street poles had no lights fixed on them. On the left, only the four outside the PWD office were working.

Between 10.30 pm and 11 pm, several buses were seen moving to the Raj ghat bus depot. A police car patrolling the stretch stopped us at one point and asked to see identity cards. One of the officers in the van cautioned: “This is not a safe road; anti-social elements, chain snatchers roam around here… don’t stay here for long.”

From the T-point, the road divides in two parts — the left goes towards Gandhi Darshan Museum and Raj ghat and the other towards IPGCL Himadri building. On the right side, most streetlights were off but the stretch was illuminated by lights from surrounding buildings and parked buses.

The stretch from Satyagrah Marg towards Gandhi Darshan Museum has 32 light poles with single lamps, of which half were not lit, including the ones at the bus stand near the museum.

At the Raj ghat traffic signal junction — one of the busiest sections that connects Old Delhi, Daryaganj, Delhi Gate, ITO and Shantivan — there was darkness. On Mahatma Gandhi Marg, at the intersection, only one high mast light was lit. From Raj ghat signal to Mahatma Gandhi Marg end, the central median had about 13 poles with two-winged lights. None were switched on. However, about 500 metres on the Shantivan stretch, the stretch was brightly lit with designer lights and decorative poles that were installed by the PWD under its streetscaping project.

When contacted, a senior PWD official said: “From School of Planning to Raj ghat red light junction… theft is a major issue… drug addicts steal the aluminium wires and even cut them, due to which the lights get fused. At several spots, there are only poles and no lights… We frequently file complaints with police for increasing night patrolling… Big trees and lack of pruning is also an issue as several streetlight poles get covered.”

“Similarly, theft issues are there on Sachivalaya road to Raj Ghat depot and Gandhi Darshan Museum. We are getting the lights fixed and to avoid thefts, we are planning to cover lights and electric boxes on poles with barbed wire. Our target is to repair all lights by January 26, but the department is working to repair it in a week,” added the official.

Praveen Kumar, MLA, Jangpura, said: “I haven’t received complaints on this yet, but we have a team of volunteers who frequently visit and inspect the working condition of streetlights on the main road and colony roads… I will get the lights fixed in the next 48 hours through the PWD official concerned. We frequently get complaints from the public regarding streetlights; recently we got all lights fixed on Barapullah flyover.” The Raj Ghat section falls under his constituency.

A key South Delhi road

Surrounded by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) residential quarters and the IIT hostel on the left and a forested area and district park on the right, the 1.2-km stretch on Africa Avenue Road, starting from Sheikh Sarai traffic signal below IIT flyover till the Swami Venkateshwara Marg T-point, was completely dark, made worse by a thick layer of fog.

There was no light on the sides of the roads. The central median had 21 two-winged streetlights — not even one was switched on. The 1.3-km stretch on Africa Avenue Road is a key arterial road that connects RK Puram’s sectors 1 to 5, Safdarjung Enclave, Mohammadpur and Bhikaji Cama Place. From Swami Venkateshwara Marg, it connects Sheikh Sarai, ILBS Vasant Kunj, IIT, Nehru Place.

“This is a very busy stretch… It’s a predominantly residential area; the stretch is quite dark and we have raised this matter with the engineer concerned to repair the lights. The dark spot is infamous for accidents,” said a police officer on patrolling duty requesting anonymity.

A PWD official, who looks after the electrical division on this stretch, said, “We have a separate team that inspects all streetlights daily. The streetlights on Africa Avenue Road were functional and we have received no complaints so far. But, if the lights are not working, we will get it fixed very soon.”

Promila Tokas, MLA, RK Puram, said, “Most of the areas that come under my assembly constituency are CPWD colonies, so installation and fixing of lights has been an issue because of different agencies like MCD maintaining colony roads and them not listening to us. However, the main roads come under PWD, so I will get it checked and repaired. Action will be taken immediately in a day or two.”

From Swami Venkateshwara Marg, the stretch goes to Tamil Sangam Marg with RK Puram Sector 1, 2, 3 and 4 situated on either side. At a 500-metre distance is a traffic police station, and the slum cluster where the December 16, 2012, rape accused lived is around the corner. The stretch was illuminated though some lights weren’t working here either.

According to PWD officials, at every stretch, there is an electrical box and a staff member who turns on the lights at 5-6 pm and turns them off at around 7 am during winters.

An immediate impact

After The Indian Express reached out to authorities regarding the dark stretches, officials said the PWD secretary has taken stock of the ground situation and directed officials concerned to repair all streetlights and replace old poles with new ones. A senior PWD official told The Indian Express that “streetlights… have been fixed following your observations/ complaint”.

“Streetlight repairing is a continuous process… As soon as we receive a complaint, we get it fixed in 24-48 hours. Road and streetlight repairs and pruning work is going on across Delhi… The department is also replacing all sodium lights with LED lights and a separate control room will be set up to monitor them,” said senior officials.