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Defunct streetlights: Many stretches in Lucnow still in the dark, allege residents
Residents in Gomti Nagar and Dalibagh complain of dysfunctional streetlights despite hundreds of complaints to LMC. Officials claim most areas are well-lit.
Despite being lit by hundreds of streetlights every night, many lanes and colonies in the state capital’s expansive Gomti Nagar remained in the dark, locals alleged. Even residents of some localities in Dalibagh had similar complaints.
While streetlights at some places didn’t work or were stolen, some were fixed in such a way that they served little function, residents alleged.
“Many of our streetlights have not been working for the past several months. We tried lodging complaints through the LMC’s helpline. Technicians came and resolved the issue, but the streetlights would go to being how they were after just two days,” said Subham, who lives in Viraj Khand-1.
Similarly, many of the streetlights from Mithai Wala Crossing to Manoj Pandey Intersection were found to be dysfunctional. “It could either be that they are never turned on or that they don’t work. Also, trees block lights from many lamps. We have registered complaints several times,” said Roop Kumar Sharma, a member of a resident welfare organisation in Gomti Nagar. “Sometimes at night, we use the flashlight from our phones to see the roads,” he added.
Nikhil Srivastava from Dalibagh said there were seven streetlights opposite Narmada Bhavan of which only three worked. “LMC staff repair the streetlights, but the lamps get corrupted again in just a few days. They say it is the fault of a transformer,” he added.
“We lodged several complaints regarding streetlights with the LMC, but no action was ever taken,” said Anju Varshney, a representative of Nehru Enclave.
Refuting citizens’ claims of official apathy, municipal chief Inderjeet Singh said most city areas were well lit. “We get over 5,000 complaints every day and all of them are taken care of.”
He noted that heatwave was a key reason why many streetlights break down often.
Manoj Prabhat, an LMC engineer, said the city has about 2.18 lakh streetlights
