NEW DELHI: Making good on his pledge to make the city streets safe for women, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the Mukhyamantri Streetlight Yojana (scheme) at Lodhi Colony on Monday.
As part of the scheme, residents will be able to have streetlights installed near their homes at government expense.
The entire cost of installation and maintenance of the streetlights will be borne by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
The scheme was announced two months ago as a step towards reducing dark spots, which are deemed unsafe for women, in the city. The government had vowed to work on a war footing to address safety issues for commuters, especially women.
According to the government, a safety audit conducted by ‘SafetiPin’, an NGO, has shown that the number of the dak spots in the city has been reduced by 63 per cent between 2016 and 2019.
In an earlier audit conducted in 2016, the NGO had identified 7,438 dark spots in the city. In the latest audit, conducted three years on, the number of dark spots has come down to 2,768. The latest audit was carried out between January and May.
“The biggest problem we faced in illuminating dark spots was the lack of consent or approval from MCDs concerned for installing poles or streetlamps. However, this innovative scheme will bypass the MCDs and provide a direct solution to people grappling with problems arising out of dark spots,” the chief minister said.
The streetlights will draw power from the household connections of local building owners. The charge on the units consumed by the streetlights will be deducted from the owners’ power bills and cleared by the Delhi government.