Streetlight repairs stall in South Delhi ahead of Diwali

Eesidents accused the civic body of turning a deaf ear to the complaints, delaying the repair, and installing makeshift re-wires.

The maintenance and repair work of streetlights in several south Delhi areas have been affected, leaving the localities in pitch dark conditions after sunset, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) have complained.

MCD official said the contract of the previous operator ended and the new company has started working from last month.

With less than a week left for Diwali, residents accused the civic body of turning a deaf ear to the complaints, delaying the repair, and installing makeshift re-wires. This, they said, causes risk of electrocution.

Meanwhile, a civic official said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has hired a new agency for overseeing the maintenance of LED streetlight network of four zones — south, central, Najafgarh, and west Delhi — which fell under the erstwhile south MCD and that the maintenance has been impacted due to the transfer.

Sanjay Rana, general secretary of Greater Kailash-2 RWA, said that handover from one company to the second should have been carried out properly. “The complaints are not being addressed on time while the helpline numbers are also unresponsive. Even when the linemen come, they are not aware of the wiring and previous fixtures and instead seek directions from us. It is a mess,” Rana said.

“So many lanes in GK-2 have turned into dark-spots and more worrisome is the makeshift wire repair work on poles and panels.”

Similar complaints were raised by other RWS. “We’ve been facing ongoing streetlight issues in Maharani Bagh . Rains cause carbon buildup that damages sensors and timers, leading to lights fusing daily or staying on during the day. Many remain unrepaired, leaving stretches dark and unsafe at night. We request the authorities to take urgent, lasting corrective action,” said Shiv Mehra, head of the Maharani Bagh RWA.

The erstwhile South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in 2015 had signed a memorandum with PSU for the conversion of 200,000 sodium-based streetlights to LED lights. According to the contract, maintenance of all changed streetlights were to be done by it and later, an addendum was made to the MoU, and new lights were added taking the count to 400,000 lights in south Delhi. Similar replacement projects were taken up by north and east MCDs. Similar complaints have been made by residents from areas like Saket, Malviya Nagar, and Chhatarpur.

A senior MCD official said the contract and the extensions of the previous operator ended and the new company has started working from last month. “There are capacity issues with the new operators but they are trying to scale up the resources, manpower to cater to south Delhi. We are hoping that the improvements will be seen and the situation will normalise by next month,” the official added.

Shafali Mittal, secretary of Sarvodaya Enclave RWA said their neighbourhood saw streetlight repair issues over the last month and things have only started settling lately. “All the previous set of field workers were changed and the new workers were not aware of the situation at all. 90% of south Delhi RWAs are in big mess due to the poorly managed transition. It should have been managed better rather than plunging large areas in darkness,” she added.

The MCD spokesperson did not respond to HT’s request for a comment on the situation.