Khulna’s Paikgachha Municipality has been upgraded from ‘Kh’ category to ‘A’ category on paper. With the upgrading of the category of the municipality, the expectations of the local citizens have naturally increased. But the residents of the municipality are not finding any match with those expectations in reality. At night, the shadow of darkness is falling on various important roads, intersections and public places in the municipality. In some places, the street lights have been broken for a long time, in some places the solar-powered lights are out of order, and in some places, even though the lights are on, the light is completely obstructed by the branches and leaves of the trees.

It has been seen that although street lights have been installed in various places and important points in the municipal area, many of the lights have not been lit for a long time. Although solar-powered street lights were once installed in various areas of the municipal headquarters, most of them are now in a defunct state due to lack of maintenance. Although there are solar panels or lighting infrastructure somewhere, as they are not functional, the common people are completely deprived of the benefit of alternative lighting during load shedding.

Nowadays, the city dwellers are already suffering from frequent load shedding of electricity. On top of this, the public suffering has reached its peak due to the non-functioning of street lights. Even if there is electricity, the intensity of the light is very low even if there is a light in some places. And when the electricity goes out, many roads are almost completely plunged into darkness due to the non-functioning solar lights. Although if the shops and businesses are open, you can walk for some distance in the temporary light there, but when the businesses are closed or load shedding starts, the whole picture changes. Then pedestrians and vehicle drivers are forced to move in the eerie darkness.

Not only broken lamps or load shedding, the light of the functioning street lamps is also being obstructed in many places due to tree branches and thick leaves. It has been seen on various roads in the municipal area that tree branches have spread around the lamps, and in some cases, the branches have even gone over the lamps. As a result, even when the lamps are lit, the light is not able to spread directly to the road and the surrounding areas. According to the locals, if the branches of the trees were trimmed regularly, it would have been possible to keep the roads better illuminated with the light of the existing functioning lamps.

One of the most important routes in the municipal area is the Paikgachha Zero Point to Shibbari Road. Various parts of this nearly one kilometer long road become completely dark at night due to the lack of adequate lighting. As the road becomes empty at night, pedestrians and vehicle drivers have to travel at great risk due to the lack of adequate lighting. Locals fear that robbery or unwanted criminal incidents can take advantage of this deserted and dark environment at any moment.

This mismanagement of dark roads is not only compromising safety, but also increasing the risk of major accidents. Potholes, broken sections, missing bricks or other obstacles on the road are not easily visible at night due to the lack of adequate lighting. As a result, not only easy-bike, van and motorcycle drivers, but also pedestrians are suffering. These dark roads have become extremely risky, especially for motorcycle drivers.

These issues have raised serious questions in the minds of the locals – does the responsibility of the authorities end if they just install lights on the side of the road? How long will it take to repair a broken light, how will the inoperative solar lights be kept operational, and why simple tasks like pruning tree branches are not regularly monitored – these are the big questions now. Although the government has invested a huge amount in installing solar lights, citizens are being deprived of its benefits due to lack of maintenance.

To overcome this situation, conscious citizens have demanded that a comprehensive list be prepared by identifying every important road, intersection, market and public gathering place in the 9 wards of the municipality. It is important to identify where and how many street lights are needed, where the lights are broken and where the light intensity is low, and take quick action. At the same time, they have strongly demanded that the non-working street lights be repaired quickly, the broken solar lights be activated and the branches of the trees around the lights be trimmed regularly.

As the municipality has been upgraded to ‘A’ category, citizens have been paying taxes and various fees regularly. However, in return, they have to travel at extreme risk on dark roads at night. The expectation of the residents is that with the upgrade in the category, the quality of citizen services will also visibly increase and important roads at night will be kept safe and adequately lit. The municipal authorities will quickly identify the problems and take effective steps before any untoward incident occurs—this is the expectation of all sections of the people of Paikgachha.

“We have to file complaints wherever there are problems with street lights,” said Tanmoy Mondal, the municipality’s street light inspector. “If we receive complaints, we will look into them and make necessary repairs.”

However, the question has arisen: if regular inspection and maintenance of lights on important public roads is part of the municipality’s responsibility, should citizens wait to complain about each broken light separately?