Samrat Choudhary

Brace for a dark Diwali people.

Urban development and housing minister Samrat Choudhary has gone back on yet another promise of his to restore faulty streetlights by Diwali.

Almost two weeks ago, a four-member committee was formed to check defunct streetlights in the city and mend them by Diwali. The festival is on Thursday and the minister has now set a November 20 deadline.

Last Friday, Choudhary claimed the committee members were going about their work efficiently though. So far as you and I are concerned, that means little for there has been no change on the ground. Streets such as Fraser Road, Ashok Rajpath, Exhibition Road, Income Tax roundabout plunge into darkness after dusk.

“The committee comprising junior engineers and executives was formed on October 6. Their job is to move around Patna for at least two hours each day and check which areas have defunct streetlights. Based on their reports, instructions will be issued to Patna Municipal Corporation and the district administration. They will have to take steps and mend the streetlights. The team is working and doing a very good job,” Choudhary told The Telegraph.

When told that there were many areas in Patna that were in darkness after, well dark, the minister changed gears.

“We have set a deadline of November 20 to mend all the existing streetlights. The deadline is final and the officials concerned have to comply with it. The department will ensure that all the lights in Patna are in working condition by that time,” he said.

On September 18, the minister had claimed disciplinary action would be initiated against officials if streetlights were found defunct in areas under their jurisdiction during Navratri. His warning fell on deaf ears. On several occasions, he has claimed 1,100 LED (light-emitting diode) streetlights would be installed in the city by Diwali.

“A couple of days back, I was on my way home and the streets were absolutely dark. Entire 3-4km of Bailey Road to Ashiana Nagar was in total darkness. Fraser Road, Income Tax roundabout were also dark. A majority of streetlights in the city are dysfunctional and the government is just giving excuses and false promises to the people and setting deadlines to save its face,” said Ashiana Nagar resident Animesh Kumar.