NEW DELHI: Five years after the December 2012 gangrape in which a woman and her male friend boarded an empty bus at a dark spot in south Delhi, authorities are still walking around in shadows. South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which was to give a list of dark spots in its zone to the Public Works Department (PWD), has not complied. The delay will cause the PWD to miss its March 31 deadline of installing lights at murky spots. The Delhi government is blaming the MCD for the delay.
“In a meeting on Friday with Chief Secretary M M Kutty, the matter of dark spots were discussed. We are hoping that PWD will complete the task in north and east Delhi in a couple of months, but South MCD has not submitted its list of dark spots,” a senior PWD official said.
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal holds fortnightly meetings with Delhi Police over women safety, in which the force raised the issue of dark spots, after which Kutty called the meeting.
The Delhi government had promised to install lights at dark spots in the city by March 31. “We had to install lights in more than 7,500 spots by March 31, but it seems PWD will require more time. Dark spots in south Delhi will remain in the dark as south MCD hasn’t submitted its list even after multiple reminders,” the official added.