Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Streetlights missing, officials in dark

Times of India: Meerut: Wednesday, 01 July 2015.
After his wife met with an accident near Begum Bagh in 2014, professor S K Ghai filed a Right to Information query asking the Nagar Nigam why street lights in some of the city's oldest areas have still not been fixed. Though Ghai filed the application in June 2014 and the RTI Act stipulates that replies must come within 45 days, he received his reply on June 23 - almost a year later.
While the Nagar Nigam said all dark spots mentioned in the query have been fixed since then, Ghai claims only one of them has been repaired.
"Last year, my wife was riding her scooter at night along the dark Chakbandi Road. A passerby inadvertently spat betel juice at her. In trying to avoid being spattered, she swerved to the side and fell into a drain. After the accident, I filed an RTI query asking the Nagar Nigam why street lights in the area were not working. Even though I should have received a reply within 45 days, I received one after a full year," Ghai, a professor of commerce at NAS Degree College told TOI.
He added saying, "I had enquired about streets in five places including Begum Bagh, one of the oldest parts of the city. It is a large area and most of the colonies here had been set up just after Partition. Despite the area being in existence for so many year, basic amenities like street lights have not been provided till date."
The reply that Ghai received from the Nagar Nigam on June 23 this year said street lights had been fixed in all the five places. However, Ghai says lights have been repaired at only one spot on Bhupal Singh Road.
At Chakbandi Road, where his wife met with the accident, street lights have not even been installed, let alone be repaired.
"How can they fix something that isn't even there? The reply I got from Nagar Nigam is not only incomplete but a downright lie," said an irate Ghai.
The lights inside Ashoka Colony, outside the eastern gate of Ashoka Colony and outside the Begum Bagh mosque have not been fixed and the street connecting Dr Bhupal Singh Road and Chakbandi Road does not have a single sodium street light.
"An extremely dangerous situation exists in these areas. Not only does it increase the risk of accidents, it also makes these residential colonies unsafe for women. If some crime against women takes place in the night, the Nagar Nigam will be at fault too," the educator said.
Meanwhile, civic authorities are absolutely in the dark about the matter.
Speaking to TOI, Nagar Nigam's executive engineer Moinuddin, said, "I am not aware of the details of this matter. Since the RTI query was filed a year ago, I can't say exactly what happened in the interim. But since a complaint has come from this area, I will send a team there today so we know what is wrong. If an area does not have street lights, we will install them. It is our responsibility and we will fulfill it."