CDA officials blame monkeys for damaging street lights in Islamabad

IMC-CDA bicker over release of funds needed to fix lights

ISLAMABAD: Most of the street lights installed in different sectors of the federal capital were out of order with funds allocated to fix them yet to be released. The local government and the civic agency have instead been keen to pass the buck to one another for the delays.

Meanwhile, residents have been facing difficulties while travelling through un-illuminated stretches of road at night apart, with the darkness creating a sense of insecurity and exposing them to criminals.

According to an official source in the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the concerned department had allocated over Rs180 million for the installation of new, and repairing all dysfunctional street lights during the current fiscal year 2018-19.

However, the funds have yet to be released.

The official claimed that they had made efforts to get the funds released but the relevant department suggested that the file has to be moved through the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) first.

The IMC, though, flatly refused, stating that it was not in a position to release the money due to a paucity of funds, the CDA official claimed. During a recent meeting of the IMC’s council, it was unveiled that the IMC just had Rs548.587 million in its accounts.

He went on to say that currently, only 40 per cent of the 36,000 lights in the city were working while the remaining 60 per cent either need to be repaired or replaced.

“While the proposed amount is not enough to completely lighten the capital, it would help rehabilitate over 50 per cent of dysfunctional street lights,” he added.

Meanwhile, residents of the city have been constantly demanding timely repair of street lights, eventually forcing residents to stay at homes due to darkness late at night.

Badar Kiyani, a student from Sector G-7, said that they had lodged numerous complaints with the authorities to resolve the issue but it was still lingering on for reasons unbeknownst to him.

"People are afraid of going outside for their daily chores at night and it has restricted public mobility as increasing crime in the city was a matter of grave concern," he said.

Kazim Ali Shah, a resident of Sector G-8, said they had heard of motorbike and mobile snatching due to the faulty street lights.

It was also noted that a more than half of the lights, along the nine kilometre-long hilly route with sharp turns leading to the city's main tourist spot the Daman-e-Koh, which draws a significant number of tourists every day, are not working. They thus pose a serious threat to the safety of visitors and residents alike.

Umar Khatak, a motorbike rider said that two-wheelers were more prone to accidents as motorists coming from opposite side use high beams, creating visibility problems at night.

Responding to this, an official from the Capital Development Authority's (CDA) Lights and Maintenance departments admitted that maintenance of lights was the stated priority of his department. However, he stated that repair of faulty lights had been delayed due to a shortage of funds.

The official blamed the monkeys, who inhabit the hills, for damaging street lights.

“They break the top housing of the lights where bulbs are intact,” he said, adding that the flexible mould of the lights attracts monkeys to play with it, thus they get damaged.

But some people had also deliberately damaged the lights for nefarious purposes.

He had a justified the shortage of maintenance staff and vehicles to address day-to-day complaints.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2018.