This stretch in the bustling Dhurwa locality of the state capital can be compared to any village lane once the sun sets.

The one-and-a-half-km road from Dhurwa Golchakkar to Babu Veer Kunwar Singh Chowk, which leads to New Colony and Hatia Dam, plunges into darkness every evening in the absence of street lights even though there are as many as 30 poles.

It's not that local residents, who claim that it has been like this for over five years, have not taken up the issue with the authorities.

Over 100 letters have already been written to Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC), district administration and former MP Subodh Kant Sahay to illuminate the stretch that is in ward 39. But these haven't worked. It matters little, it seems to the RMC, that Project Building and Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha are barely 3.5km away from Babu Veer Kunwar Singh Chowk and Birsa Chowk is merely five kilometres away.

Around 20,000 people, who stay in and around New Colony that comes a little after Babu Veer Kunwar Singh Chowk, use this stretch but avoid it after sunset as the road turns into a crime den under the cover of darkness.

"It's been years since we saw lights on this stretch. We are tired of pleading with the authorities. All we know is one should not take this road alone in the evening and night. Even vehicles taking the road move fast to avoid any untoward incident," said Ravish Singh, a resident of New Colony.

Agreed Sunil Kumar, a resident of New Market, Dhurwa."Absence of streetlights makes it a stretch of crime. Every evening, snatchings take place. You will not see women commuting via this road after 6pm. Even when they are on two-wheelers with their husbands, fathers or brothers, they prefer to move fast. No one is safe here, not even men," Kumar added.

Harishchandra Singh, officer in-charge of Dhurwa police station, admitted that the dark stretch did lead to stray crimes.

A constable poured out his frustration, going to the extent of calling the road haunted. "That road is absolutely ghostly. Don't ask about crime, if a man can walk alone through that street in the dark, I will call him brave," he said.

But no one could say why the electricity poles were installed in the first phase and if there were lights before, where they had gone.

Rajesh Kumar, councillor of ward 39, pleaded helplessness. "I am a new councillor. But, I have taken up the matter with RMC officials a number of times. I have been told that LEDs would be fixed on the stretch, but when I don't know."

Nagendra Dubey, in-charge of lights at RMC, pointed out that the main problem along the stretch was absence of service lines through which electricity can pass.

"You must have noticed that there are poles sans electric wires. We conducted a survey along with electricity department officials sometime back and absence of service lines emerged to be the main hurdle. We have prepared the DPR for bringing in power to the area and now waiting for funds. Illumination of the stretch depends on early release of money," he added.

Do you know of any other dark stretch? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com