Defunct streetlights leave citizens struggling in dark in Pune

PUNE: During a late-night trip recently down the arterial Fergusson College (FC) Road towards Agriculture College Chowk, regular commuter Alok Jain found himself in a fix. The entire 500-metre stretch, which is a key route connecting vital areas of the city for thousands of vehicles daily, was completely dark due to non-functioning streetlights, Jain told TOI.
"The absence of lights was posing difficulties at the chowk, which intersects the busy University Road with FC Road," added Jain.
Not too far away, Manish Shete, a resident of Khadki, faced a similar challenge on Old Mumbai-Pune Highway road - malfunctioning streetlights and commuters left struggling in the dark. "The civic administration should check if the system installed to monitor these lights is even functioning properly," said Shete.
Regular commuters as well as pedestrians have been facing huge difficulties due to the non-functioning of streetlights across city areas. They emphasize that these dark patches could lead to serious accidents in the near future, as many of the roads and footpaths are already in terrible condition.
Manisha Bapat, a resident of Deccan Gymkhana, said early morning walkers face difficulties when streetlights in smaller lanes and bylanes go off abruptly. "The civic administration should improve monitoring of these lights to ensure immediate repair and avoid chances of mishaps," she suggested.
The situation is even more challenging in fringe areas that were merged into the city in 2017 and 2021, since many newly developed roads are still to get adequate provisions for streetlights.
Vikas Gupta, a resident of Katraj-Kondhwa Road, said, "Many smaller lanes in particular suffer from poor lighting. We have been demanding the erection of light poles for long now."
According to the civic authorities, there is a plan to install over 27,000 LED lights across the city along with a proper monitoring system. "The tendering process is underway. We hope to begin the work in the next few days. As per the plan, new lights will come up across the city. The system will include a provision of sending updates to a control room about non-functioning lights," an official from Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) electrical department said.
Meanwhile, while this basic issue persists, the department has proposed painting some 6,000 streetlamps ahead of the G20 Summit meetings slated to be hosted in the city next year.
The plan also includes the installation of switchboards on the light poles.