Faulty streetlights irk motorists on Expressway

CDA spokesperson says dept renovating road lights across the city

ISLAMABAD: A large number of flickering and faulty street lights installed at the Islamabad Expressway are baffling the motorists who travels daily on the 28-Km long artery connecting the Federal Capital with suburban areas.The commuters of Islamabad Highway complained about the slackness of authorities concerned in fixing the en-route dilapidated road lights despite repeated complaints. "Over 320,000 people use Expressway daily and a plethora of complaints have been lodged with Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) regarding the road lights' malfunctioning," a traffic police official told APP on Tuesday. The complaints were being forwarded to the Capital Development Authority on daily basis, he added.

"It seems that the CDA pays less heed to maintenance of traffic infrastructure," he blamed while citing the example of most of non-functional traffic signals in the city.

Shehzad Akbar, a government servants, said blinking lights on Expressway had become a constant nuisance for the motorists.He said the out-of-order lights were confusing the commuter at wheels that might lead to any lethal accident, urging the CDA to repair the lights to save life and properties of commuters at Expressway.

Another resident of Media Town, Zaheer Ahmed said there were no street lights installed from Gulberg Bridge to Rawat, leaving a major part of the road into darkness. Zaheer said he had filed complaints time and again to the departments concerned but no avail.

When contacted, the CDA's Street Light Department thanked the media for bringing the issue of dysfunctional street lights in their notice, assuring that the lights would be fixed shortly. The CDA spokesperson said the department had started renovating the road lights across the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2019.