Dark streets pave haven for muggers
Installed in 2005 under a Tk 800-crore project streetlights in Malibagh, Mughda still remain off, where incidents of mugging are rampant
Raihan Sabuktagin
To the sufferings of thousands of commuters and locals, streetlights on a stretch of 5 kilometre-long road between Malibagh and Mugda are still not operational although the lights were installed in March 2005. Furthermore, it is alleged that the firm responsible for installing the lights already pocketed the payment for the work before the authorities issued operational clearance for the streetlights. Without the streetlights, this key road touching Rajarbagh, Peerjangi Mazar and Kamalapur turned dangerous for the users and a safe haven for marauders. Accidents and mugging at night are very common on this street. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) was scheduled to install more than 200 streetlights from Malibagh to Mugda stadium under the Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP), part of a massive development project of Tk 800 crore for Dhaka city. RHD was supposed to hand over the streetlights to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) after completing the work. The implementation period of the DUTP project was over on March 31 in 2005, but RHD is yet to hand over the streetlights to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). Zafar Ahmed, superintendent engineer of DCC, confirmed to Star City that RHD did not hand over the lights to DCC. He also said, "DCC is under pressure from thousands of locals of this vast area.... without receiving the lights, how can we light up the road?" Before the handing over, both RHD and DCC should conduct a joint survey over the installation and relevant documents should also be handed over, Zafar recommended. Zafar also complained that DCC wrote several letters to RHD during the last two years requesting handing over of the lights, but RHD did not bother to respond. During this time, DCC also informed the communication ministry to expedite the process of the handing over. The ministry, after investigating the situation, ordered RHD to hand over the streetlights to DCC as soon as possible, but RHD still did not comply. When contacted, the RHD authorities claimed that they had already handed over the lights to DCC and the records of the handover are available at Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB). Star City pursued this issue with DTCB and they, after checking their documents, confirmed that RHD has yet to hand over the streetlights to DCC.
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