Defunct lights along Margalla Hills road posing threat to lives

ISLAMABAD, Sept, 25 (APP): The majority of the road lights along
city’s tourists heart Daman-e-Koh, that draws significant number of tourists daily, are non-functional, posing serious threat to the safety of the visitors and local residents.
More than half of the lights along the 9km hilly route, having many
dangerous sharp curves, require Capital Development Authority’s (CDA)
urgent attention for overhauling to ensure tourists’ and locals’ safety.
Imran Khatak, a motorcyclist said that two wheelers were more
prone to accidents as motorists coming from opposite side use high beams, creating more visibility problem due to darkness on the raod.
“I had a narrow escape in a sudden encounter with a drove of pigs that
suddenly appeared from inside the jungle last Sunday night near Tilhar village’s entrance,” Raja Waqar who had come with his family to visit
the scenic site said. “I was lucky enough to control my vehicle,” he added.
He also urged for early restoration of the out of order
lights for public safety.
Qing Ping Qin, a Chinese national, at Monal Restaurant talking
to this scribe said, he was inspired from the beauty of the area and
was a frequent visitor. “Traveling at night with family on a dark road
was a matter of concern which must be taken up seriously,” he remarked.
The Chief Administrator of Monal Restaurant expressing his dismay
of the situation said, their business activities start during
night and almost 500 tourists daily enjoy food at their facility.
“The mishandling of affairs at CDA’s part could affect the business
of the area’s picnic spots that allure majority of the tourists
under open sky in summer season,” he added.
A CDA’s official at the Maintenance and Lights Department
admitting his department’s failure to fix the issue said paucity
of funds was a hurdle to resolve the problem once and forever.
He however held monkeys responsible for non-functioning of the lights and said they break the top structure of the lights where bulbs
are intact.
The flexible mode of the lights attracts them to play with, thus they get damaged. He also had a justified excuse for shortage of maintenance staff and vehicles to address day-to-day complaints.
The chairman CDA, he said, has recently accorded approval to replace
all the defunct lights with new ones, but it would take another two to
three months before the problem is fixed, as it involves lengthy departmental procedures.