Gurgaon: New LED lights lifts streets in South City 2 out of darkness

Concerned over rising incidents of snatching, thefts and accidents in South City-2, residents took the initiative of replacing defunct streetlights with LED bulbs

After several years of darkness on South City-2 township’s roads, the RWA members finally replaced the defunct bulbs on the stretches with 350 Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. The area, known previously as the ‘most unsafe’ in the city, is now a well-lit township. The project cost nearly ₹15 lakh and it took more than two months to install the LED bulbs.

The newly-installed LED streetlights in South City-2. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The initiative was taken by the residents’ welfare association (RWA) after several incidents of snatching, thefts and accidents were reported in the area.

Hindustan Times, over the last couple of years, ran a series of reports on defunct streetlights in South City 2.

Residents claimed the with the authorities paying scant regard to their plight despite several requests, they took the onus on themselves and pooled money to get the defunct streetlights replaced.

“When we took up the issue with the developer and its maintenance team, they said they do not have enough resources to ensure that the streets in South City 2 are well-lit,” Neeraj Yadav, president, RWA, said.

The township is spread across 250 acres and around 2,500 families reside in the area that had been sorely lacking in streetlights. Residents said several accidents took place on the internal roads, leaving elderly residents and children injured.

Most of the sodium vapour streetlights that were installed earlier had been lying defunct.

“The project brought residents together for a cause that concerned the community at large. We took the onus of lighting up our streets in the interest of ensuring the safety and security of both residents and visitors,” Shailesh Giri, president, I block extension, South City 2, said.

Read I Gurgaon: South City-2 RWA to install LED streetlights for safety and security of residents

LED lights will not only reduce power consumption, but also provide better visibility for commuters. These are environment-friendly as well, residents said.

The township has over 1,500 street lights, of which around 1,200 were out of order.