Streetlights across the city remain dysfunctional

Pindiites are angry over damaged streetlights that have been out of order for a long time now. Several localities plunge into darkness as night falls. Movement on the city roads during the night has become risky, as a large number of streetlights lie inoperative.

“Thousands of streetlights installed in the city over the last few decades, but a small portion of them is working. With so many streetlights out of order, parts of the city are plunged into darkness soon after sunset. The concerned department is eschewing its responsibility to replacing or repairing faulty streetlights,” says Esa Naqvi.

There are many concrete, semi-concrete roads. Of them, major stretches of roads have about thousands of streetlight points. The department, however, claims that it is trying its best to maintain the streetlights or replace out-of-order streetlights on a regular basis, but the ground reality shows otherwise,” says Asad Abbas.

“We feel concerned towards the extent of time that streetlights are not working. We are pleading with the concerned department to fix the lights. Not only does it present a danger to us all, but it poses a potential danger to pedestrians who go unnoticed when crossing the street,” says Tanveer Hussain.

“Most streetlights are of poor quality, when they get fixed, they can easily get damaged again after severe winds of rainstorms. Besides, frequent load shedding almost every evening has multiplied the sufferings of the residents. Roads, houses, and business establishments remain in the darkness during the night due to power outages,” laments Saleem Raza.

“Pindora Chungi, Saidpur Road, Jamia Masjid Road, Gwalmandi, Iqbal Road, College Road, Eidgah Road, Urdu Bazaar, Qila Mohallah, F-Block Satellite Town, Arya Mohallah, Nadeem Colony, Chaman Zaar Colony, Marir are the worst-hit areas,” says Shafqat Zaidi.

When contacted, the officer-in-charge admitted that around half the streetlights in the city are out of order. “I do agree that around 50% of streetlights are out of order, and only a few maintenance vehicles are operational. However, when I took charge, the situation was even worse. The majority of streetlights were dysfunctional then and I got thousands fixed in my stint as officer-in-charge,” says Hasan Raza.

“Now, the problem is that we don’t have funds. I am in touch with the concerned quarter, which has been providing us with funding for necessary development work, for funding to repair the faulty lights. I am trying to resolve the issue of the streetlights on priority,” Hasan Raza added.

“More lights will become dysfunctional in the coming months because the concerned department has no backup light bulbs and wires in its stores. The department is also understaffed. This fact is enough to gauge how sincere our bosses are about streetlights,” says Sabir Ali, a junior clerk from the concerned department.