SHILLONG: The city over the years have gained popularity as one of the favourite destinations in the North East and hundreds of tourists land here.
However, the tourists who are lured by the name and fame of the city get surprised at the lack of illuminated streets.
The Pine City of Shillong, which is widely projected as one of the most loved hill stations, embraces darkness after sunset every day, thanks to non-functional street lights all across the city, much to the consternation of local residents and tourists.
Some tourists visiting Shillong admit that the street lighting system in the capital is indeed far from satisfactory and unlike other towns and cities where street lights illuminate brightly.
Some tourists said that they visited Shillong in the evening and they were not impressed by the entry points to the city like Mawiong and approaching areas to the city remain fully covered in thick darkness due to absence of street lights.
However, in the recent past, it has been seen that the Government have installed street lights all along the GS Road from Police Bazar till Motphran but the power of these newly installed lights are so weak that it does not make much of a difference
The lights with very less power have also been fitted across the new road which connects Oakland to Polo.
Some locals also said that the foundation light which was installed at Khyndailad probably 15 years back does not function to its full capacity on most of the occasion
Some residents also say that the street lighting is a basic requirement and most of the political parties promise good street lighting in their poll manifestos but in Shillong city, but to no avail.
“ I as a citizen of Shillong can even count the number of high mast street lights and I think the Government never focus on this area of making Shillong look more beautiful at night ,” a citizen said
Though it is seen that many street lights in the city have been repaired, a large portion of Shillong still remains under darkness either due to non functional street lights or no street lights at all. The situation has reached such an extent that a street lights which was installed at Butcher road have remained non functional for almost two years now and nobody has ever bothered to repair it
According to the city residents, though there are plenty of important junctions in the city like the IGP point which is just next to the Secretariat, DC office junction, Barik junction and even the junction near the Raj Bhavan, the street lighting in these junctions is far from satisfactory and there are no high-mast lights in such important locations of the town.
Many say that if the lighting in the city is good, it would also discourage miscreants from committing any crime but till date, the street lighting in Shillong continues to be in the same old condition what it was a decade back.