During one of the evenings last year, a woman of Sector-4 was returning home after taking her swimming session. When she was just 500 metres away from her home, she was assaulted. As the stretch remains dead dark, she could not see anyone coming towards her.
“I was walking back from my swimming session from Modern Convent School when all of sudden someone grabbed me from behind and then ran towards the barren and dark area just across the street.”
A couple of more such kinds of incidents happened with the people who were returning from the metro stations to home. Sanjay Singh, a resident of Sector-12, was beaten badly and his watch, mobile and purse were snatched. The stretch where the incident happened was completely dark.
In another incident, a person was attacked by some people with knives in a park when he was crossing it to approach his home. He got wounded and his laptop was snatched. It all happened in the dark.
The incident happened between Metro station and Radhika Apartments in Sector-14. Although lights have been installed at the park, the area still remains dark due to ill-maintenance of lights.
There are many such kinds of stories where people became the victim because there was no light.
Sarita Thakur, a resident of Sector-18, said, “The situation is worse as I did not see any improvement. Five years back, the number of dark spots was in hundreds and it has not improved.” Near residential pockets and societies, many electric poles can be seen mostly in the back lanes which often do not work properly.
The situation is so serious that those back lanes are now getting light arrangements from the societies. The RWAs or managements have installed some bulbs towards the back lane for their own security. Some of the back lanes of the societies shave been in dark state for a long time.
It can be seen at the back lane of DDA SFS in Sector-5 and back lane of Durga Pooja CGHS in Sector-13.
General secretary of RWA, DDA SFS flats in Sector-5, Mahesh Gupta said, “Our back lane has never been properly lit. It is always in a dark state. On our complaint, they make some arrangements. But, once the bulb gets defunct, they do not do anything unless any complaint happens.”
In sectors like 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, the condition is worse than the other sectors. Also, there are long stretches inside the sectors like 7, 6 and 2 where there are either dim lights or no lights. There are areas with a number of non-functional lights.
Either, the fittings on the poles are missing or the bulbs are defunct. In Sector-7, there are dark spots in the bylanes of Sargodha Apartments, behind Sargodha and Shri Ganesh Apartments.
There is also dark near Meghdoot Apartments and Shiv Bhole Apartments. The condition of Sector-8 is even worse and the electrical infrastructure is a victim of maintenance. Vice president of Dwarka Forum and a resident of Sector-8, Arvinder Singh, said, “DDA and BSES must think upon seriously to make the sector properly lit. The civic authorities have neglected this sector.”
Due to the darkness around the metro stations, many incidents of the car and bike theft were reported. Police too emphasised that the condition is favourable for the thieves due to darkness. Police have sent a list of the dark spots to the DDA and BSES to work upon.
ACP Dwarka, Rajendar Singh, said, “We have been continuously following up the subject of dark spots and stretches with the concerned agencies. A list has also been sent to them. If they do something effective, it would be a great help to us.”
The issue of the dark spots and stretches are raised in the meetings with the police and civic bodies many times but the people said that there is no effective outcome.
According to sources, the total points of darkness including dark stretches and dark spots mentioned by the then DCP in a police public meeting in 2012 was more than 700 and still, sources said that the number is not less than what was earlier said.
According to data from all the three police station areas like Dwarka South, Dwarka North and Dwarka Sector-23, there are 56 dark stretches across the city in all 23 sectors.
