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Despite Discoms, streets remain dark

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI SEPT. 20. More than an year after the private power distribution companies entered Delhi, at least one-third of the streetlights across the Capital have been found to be non-functional.

A recent survey carried out by the Police Control Room vans for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi at the request of the Delhi Government has revealed that about 60 per cent of the streetlights in certain residential areas like Mayur Vihar are not functioning.

Streetlights are being "maintained and operated'' by the Discoms on behalf of the MCD. But recently the MCD decided to take back the responsibility of maintenance of streetlights from April next. There are 253,674 electric poles and 285,649 electric points in the MCD area.

Streetlights are in a "bad shape'' in the areas maintained by the BSES Yamuna Power Limited, responsible for East and Central Delhi. At least 45 per cent of the streetlights were found to be non-functional during the survey. The condition was even more pathetic in East Delhi: home to one-third of Delhiites.

In Mayur Vihar, of the 6,923 points surveyed, just 1,782 poles were found to be functioning. The conditions were more or less similar in nearby Jhilmil where only 959 of the 2,298 streetlight points were functional.

While 44.13 per cent of the streetlights were found to be non-functional in Laxmi Nagar, it was 34.17 per cent in Krishna Nagar. "The situation is really bad in East Delhi. With no streetlights and roads potholed, commuting at night is a nightmarish experience for the residents,'' complains Rakesh Joshi, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase-I.

In the highly congested Paharganj area of Central Delhi which is frequented by a large number of foreign tourists who stay in the several hotels here, as many as 2,225 of the 5,092 streetlights were found to be non-functional. "We hade hoped that things would improve after privatisation. Even during the Delhi Vidyut Board days, the situation was better,'' claimed a hotel manager. While one-third of the streetlights do not function in Daryaganj, Chandni Chowk is no better. Only 22.71 per cent of the streetlights were found non-functional.

According to the survey, the same BSES seems to have managed things much better in South and South-West Delhi where 28 per cent of the streetlights were non-functional. In some colonies like Vikaspuri, 93 per cent of the streetlights were found to be functioning, in Janakpuri 90 per cent and in R. K. Puram it was 86 per cent. But in Mehrauli, it came down to less than 70 per cent, Moti Nagar 64 per cent, and in South Circle it was just 60 per cent.

In the North Delhi and North-West Delhi areas managed by the North Delhi Power Limited, 35 per cent of the streetlights were found to be non-functional. In Rohini more than 35 per cent electric points were defective and 36 per cent in Shakti Nagar. But, in the posh locality of Civil Lines, only 13.13 per cent of the streetlights were found to be non-functional.

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