Dimly lit parks, weak surveillance raise safety worries in Gurugram

As dusk settles over Gurugram, several parks across the city plunge into darkness, with inadequate lighting and the absence of CCTV cameras raising concerns among residents over safety after sunset

As dusk settles over Gurugram, several parks across the city plunge into darkness, with inadequate lighting and the absence of CCTV cameras raising concerns among residents over safety after sunset.

People walk through a dark stretch of Leisure Valley Park in Sector 29 near HUDA Market on Thursday (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

An HT spot check at Leisure Valley Park in Sector 29 on Thursday found several dark stretches across the premises, with little or no lighting in some areas. Although sunset in Gurugram was around 6.15pm, the park lights were switched on only after 7pm, leaving visitors to navigate parts of the park in near darkness.

While lights along the pavements were functional, the garden section and the area around the small fountain had inadequate or no lighting. The entrance to the park was also dimly lit. Some visitors were seen using their mobile phone torches to navigate darker stretches.

Anil Sharma, a regular visitor, said a prominent public space such as Leisure Valley Park should have adequate lighting throughout its premises.

A similar situation was observed at Tau Devi Lal Biodiversity Park, where several stretches were inadequately illuminated after dusk.

At Aravalli Biodiversity Park, the entrance and the front section of the park were adequately lit. Residents, however, said the rear section lacked functional lights and remained dark after sunset.

Sandeep Singh, a resident of DLF Phase 3, said the rear section of the park was usually dark. “This is a huge black spot. Interestingly, the boundary wall of the park at the back is also slightly broken, which allows anyone to enter from here,” he said.

All three parks are maintained by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

Ranbir Singh Sangwan, media adviser at GMDA, said teams would inspect all three parks and replace non-functional lights.

“Some lights were recently replaced at Tau Devi Lal, but probably they are not working, so we will replace them. If there are any parts which lack proper lighting, that will be fixed as well after inspection by the team,” he said.

“If required, the team will also look into switching on the lights earlier at the parks for the benefit of visitors,” Sangwan added.

Several parks in residential sectors, which are maintained by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), face similar problems, residents said.

Kush Dutta, general secretary of the South City-1 RWA, said the colony has around 75 parks, but lights are operational at night in only a few of them.

“We have raised complaints repeatedly with civic agencies. However, no action has been taken,” he said.

Dutta alleged that inadequate lighting also made some parks vulnerable to anti-social activities. “In one of the parks in G Block, there have been several complaints of people consuming drugs and alcohol,” he said.

He said the main parks also lacked CCTV cameras. “Most women and children do not go to parks after a certain time because there is no surveillance,” he added.

Bhawani Shankar Tripathi, a resident of Sector 23A, said the 15-acre Janam Diwas Park does not have CCTV cameras and requires better security, particularly at night.

“Such a huge park requires at least four security guards at night, along with proper surveillance. However, there are no CCTV cameras here, which definitely raises questions about the security of the park,” he said.

DD Sharma, former RWA president of Sector 56, said Smriti Park in Sector 54 has lighting only in limited areas, leaving several frequently used stretches poorly illuminated.

“The jogging tracks and other areas where people usually gather do not have adequate lighting,” he said.

Chaitali Mandhotra, a resident of Ardee City, said the colony has around 40 parks, but most lack adequate lighting, leaving several stretches dark after sunset.

Sachin Yadav, executive engineer (electrical) at MCG, said a work order has been issued to repair and replace lights in parks across the sectors.

“The lights will be replaced or fixed within the next four to five months,” he said.