Pune: Non-Functional Street Lights Leave Kalyani Nagar Residents In The Dark

The residents of Kalyani Nagar have raised their concerns over street lights not working in their area for the past two days. The residents complain that the roads are pitch dark, and poorly lit areas often attract anti-social elements, making residents and commuters feel unsafe as they are more susceptible to criminal activities.

Virendra Sherlekar, a resident, pointed out, "For the past two days, there have been no lights on the streets, and we are afraid to walk on the pitch-dark roads as they are uneven and incidents can occur."

Sherlekar added, "The whole of Lane 2 from Central Avenue to Starbucks, and Lane 2A which goes from ICICI Bank to Morning Glory, has no lights at all. The roads are uneven and filled with potholes, and it becomes very difficult for us to go out in the dark. It becomes even worse for senior citizens – due to poor vision, they have a high chance of falling because of uneven roads. This is causing much inconvenience to us as our walks have been restricted. Also, the poorly lit areas attract a lot of anti-social activities, and in the past, many incidents of mobile phone snatching have happened in the dark areas."

Balkrishna Dogra, a resident of Harmony Cooperative Society, said, "I'm 72 years old, and every morning at 5am, I go to the Ganpati temple to offer my morning prayers. For the past two days, there have been no street lights working from the Kalyani Bungalow to Irani Cafe, and the roads that further go to Joggers Park have no lights at all. During winter, the visibility is low, and because of trees in the areas, one can see nothing. It is very dark, and I feel unsafe to go out as anything can happen. As a senior citizen, it becomes very difficult to walk on streets which have no lights or are dimly lit. Authorities should do something about it."

Another resident, Usha Chandani, said, "The street lights have not been working for the last two days, and we feel unsafe to go out without lights."

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Manisha Shekatkar, head of the electric department, PMC, said, "Kalyani Nagar area has normal street lights, unlike Viman Nagar area which has smart street lights. However, we haven't received any complaints yet, but I'll share the information with my team, and we will make sure that the street lights are properly lit up again in that area."