Why are the most expensive street lights defunct in Pulwama?

Pulwama: Pulwama as a district came into being in the year 1979 but the public amenities in this south Kashmir area are still in dire need of government attention. Years back, some really expensive street lights were installed in the main town but only to be left to burn out. So, why are the most expensive street lights defunct in Pulwama?

People in the area blamed the local authorities for their inattention and negligence towards these lights but could not specifically name the government department which was responsible for their maintenance.

Firstly, we headed towards Municipal Committee Pulwama where Executive Officer, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani pointed fingers towards R&B Department. However, he assured to take the responsibility of maintenance of these lights if formally brought into his domain.

We talked to few officials from R&B Department who were quick to point towards Power Development Department (PDD).

When contacted, PDD officials said that the department had no responsibility to look after the lights as they had previously issued power bills against ‘concerned authorities i.e., R&B Department’ after the lights were fully functional for some time.

However, one of the senior officials said, “R&B Department denied to pay the bills as it asked us to pay rent for the poles on which these street lights were installed. This is all we know.”

So, the lights had been installed by R&B Department but had failed to pass on the orders of maintenance to either PDD Pulwama or Municipal Committee Pulwama. This is what really led these lights to be abandoned.

After the issue was brought into his notice, Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, G. M. Dar talked to concerned officers from R&B Department and Municipal Committee Pulwama and assured that the lights will be made functional within a week or two.

With Deputy Commissioner Pulwama’s assurance, we hope that the defunct lights are replaced by LED lights and made functional as soon as possible so that people could take a sigh of relief from the scary feeling of walking through poorly-lit streets.