Bhopal's much-touted smart lighting project has plunged into darkness, leaving residents frustrated and fearful. According to Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) city engineer Ashish Shrivastava, nearly 10% of the 60,000 street lights across the state capital are not functional. He attributes much of the disruption to ongoing infrastructure development projects such as metro construction and road work on the bypass road.
Smart Lights in Worse Condition
When factoring in the 20,000 smart city-operated lights, the situation appears even more dire. As of Monday, 24% of these smart lights were out of order, exposing large stretches of the city to unsafe conditions at night. Off the record, officials acknowledge that the crisis stems from mismanagement.
Private Operator Issues
A senior source revealed that the private operator contracted to run the smart lighting system has not paid its employees, affecting repair work. The profit model is tied to energy savings, but when lights do not work, questions arise about auditing. A former smart city official noted that the smart city department itself has been reduced to barely half a dozen staff members.
Residents Suffer
Residents emphasize that the problem is not just statistics but a lived reality. In BMC zone 21, a street light complaint has been pending for over three months. One resident stated that an officer promised resolution overnight, but three months later, nothing has changed. During that period, two major accidents occurred on the BRTS corridor, including one at the gate of a local MLA's house at 45 Bungalows, where a car was crushed between two trucks at night.
Worst-Affected Areas
BRTS Link Road 1 has recorded the highest number of failures with 26 outages. Gautam Nagar holds the longest unresolved case, with a street light failure persisting since 1 July 2023, over 1,045 days in darkness. Data reviewed by TOI shows a disturbing pattern: areas like Vidhya Nagar (63% failure), Link Road 2 and 3 (62% failure), and Ayodhya Bypass (51% failure) are among the worst hit. Even high-profile stretches such as VIP Road and Habibganj station remain poorly lit.
For residents, the message is clear: when a neighbourhood street light fails in Bhopal, do not expect it to be fixed anytime soon. Three months and counting, the city's streets remain in the shadows.
