Lax action on 164 dark spots amid gang-rape at Delhi park

New Delhi: Reports of Delhi Police’s nightly survey—a daily exercise to assess missing or defective streetlights leading to dark spots—show that action to rectify the lighting situation at 164 dark spots, identified from before the incident of gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park to Friday night, has been fairly slow-paced, HT found

New Delhi: Reports of Delhi Police’s nightly survey—a daily exercise to assess missing or defective streetlights leading to dark spots—show that action to rectify the lighting situation at 164 dark spots, identified from before the incident of gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park to Friday night, has been fairly slow-paced, HT found.

The survey comes amid the gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl in Aastha Kunj Park on September 21. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The reports of September 16-17, 21-22 and 24-25, which HT has accessed, show that the city’s list of identified dark spots did not change even in the aftermath of the incident, even as the Delhi Police continues to share information with the offices of Delhi’s lieutenant governor (LG) and chief secretary, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Public Works Department (PWD), and senior Delhi Police officers.

“A survey to check the status of street lights and identify spots or stretches that are without adequate lighting is done every night in all 15 PCR zones by police personnel on duty in PCR vans. A report is compiled the next day and sent to all agencies concerned, including the PWD, MCD and NDMC, seeking remedial measures. It’s surprising that the authorities failed to address the identified dark spot problems despite repeated reminders,” said a senior police officer aware of the matter, asking not to be identified.

“Exceptions from the Delhi Police are always high. But installing streetlights and ensuring that they are functional is not the job of the police. Other agencies should also be held accountable for their lackadaisical approach,” the officer said.

PWD, MCD and NDMC did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

A PWD official, on condition of anonymity, said that streetlight repairs can be done within 48 hours of receiving information, if the complaint is treated as “priority”, unless the lighting fixtures or other parts are unavailable.

As per the survey reports, there were 22,016 streetlights and poles across the city, with the maximum, 3,797, in the Dwarka police district, followed by central, south and outer-north police districts, having 3,410, 2,447, and 2,007, respectively. The northwest police district has the fewest streetlights, at 515, while Shahdara, outer and north police districts respectively have 548, 555, and 691 streetlights. In the New Delhi district, there are 903 streetlights.

Of the 164 dark spots, the outer police district accounted for 53, the central police district accounted for 35, the north police district accounted for 15, Rohini police district accounted for 14, and the west police district accounted for 12. No dark spots were found in the New Delhi and Shahdara police districts, while the south, east and outer-north police districts had two each. The northwest police district had one dark spot,the northeast and southwest police districts have eight each, the southeast district accounts for seven and Dwarka, for five.

The number of defective streetlights varied on the three nights. On the intervening night of September 16-17, the number of defective streetlights were 4,451, while it was 4,543 on the night of September 21-22, and 4,616 on the intervening night of September 24-25.

Meanwhile, police presence and patrols across the city have been strengthened in the wake of the gang-rape incident on September 21. Delhi Police commissioner Anurag Kumar has directed all senior police officers, including deputy and additional deputy commissioners of 15 districts, to lead patrolling teams in parks and streets across the city. Kumar and joint commissioner of police (New Delhi) Nupur Prasad on Friday night visited Jahanpanah City Forest and Deer Park to review night-time security and identify improvements in lighting, CCTV cameras, boundary walls, gates, guards and access control.