Defunct traffic lights make driving risky in New Gurgaon

Nearly 15 traffic lights across new Gurgaon are not functional as the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon (MCG) has allegedly failed to pay the private contractor responsible for maintaining the signals for nearly eight months.

Nearly 15 traffic lights across new Gurgaon are not functional as the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon (MCG) has allegedly failed to pay the private contractor responsible for maintaining the signals for nearly eight months. Residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) have approached the traffic police to take immediate action, saying that the non-functional lights are a major security concern, especially for those travelling at night.

The traffic light on the road from Huda Metro station to Sector 44, a distance of over 3 km, too is non-functional. Residents of Green Wood City society in Sector 46 said they have approached the MCG and the Gurgaon police over the issue several times, but to no avail. (AbhinavSaha/HT Photo)

There are 71 traffic lights across the city, of which nearly 30 are in New Gurgaon. Of the 71 lights, 11 were installed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) recently.

Traffic police officials said they have decided to prepare a list of the non-functional lights in two weeks and address the problem as soon as possible.

One of the worst affected junctions is the 2-km stretch leading to Huda Metro station from Iffco Chowk. The traffic light on the road from Huda Metro station to Sector 44, a distance of over 3 km, too is non-functional. Residents of Green Wood City society in Sector 46 said they have approached the MCG and the Gurgaon police over the issue several times, but to no avail.

The traffic light at the Vatika crossing on Sohna Road is defunct for the past two months due to which commuters drive on the wrong side, resulting in congestions.

“It is difficult to travel on this road as the lights do not work. I have complained about it to the repairing agency. I have also written to the MCG commissioner but to no avail,” said Sunil Sukhija, former president of Green Wood City.

“The agency stopped the repair work as the MCG has not paid it for the past eight months. This is very shocking. I last contacted the MCG 45 days ago regarding the non-functional traffic light at the Sector 40 crossing. The agency is not bothered about people getting stuck in jams because of the non-functional traffic lights,” Sukhija said.

The contractor said the MCG has not made the payment since October.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, manager of Ottino Visuals, the maintenance agency for the traffic lights, said, “The agreement for maintaining the lights was signed with the Huda and they made all the payments. But after the MCG took over in October, payment of Rs 5.5lakh has not been made. We have to pay salaries of our employees. The payment is pending since October.”

Deputy commissioner of police (East) Deepak Saharan said, “We have received several complaints from RWAs and are coordinating with the MCG. Soon, the lights will be repaired. We have directed the traffic police to deploy personnel on busy intersections where the traffic signals are not working.”

Joint commissioner of MCG Rohit Yadav said, “I have issued orders to the superintendent engineer and the executive engineer to take prompt action in the matter. It was due to the negligence of the executive engineer that the bills were not passed and the payment was delayed. The issue will be resolved at the earliest and we will look into the maintenance too.”