12 Kolkata: A 3.5-km stretch of BT Road from Sodepur to Belgharia has been in darkness for months after alleged theft of cable wires. The street lights remain non-functional, reportedly due to a dispute between the PWD authorities and Panihati Municipality over who was responsible for restoring the lights. The prolonged darkness on this high-speed stretch created risks for pedestrians, traffic cops and bikers using the road.
According to locals, both the Kolkata-bound and Barrackpore-bound flanks of BT Road are without street lights for months. The days of digging the road following ongoing PWD works on the road divider caused the underground cables to be damaged, and since then, the streetlights stopped functioning.
Locals complained that the place turned into a ‘hub for criminals'. "Despite complaints and repeated requests to PWD authorities and the civic body, there has been no change," a traffic officer from Barrackpore said.
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