Ghaziabad: About 12% of streetlights on the 19-km UP Gate-to-Dasna stretch of Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) are non-functional, according to data provided by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in response to an RTI query.The stretch has 318 faulty lights out of 2,695 installed, while all streetlights on the other two sections of the expressway — Delhi to UP Gate and Dasna to Meerut — are functional, NHAI stated.Amit Gupta, who filed the RTI, said he had been following up with NHAI for two years over inadequate lighting on the expressway, where he frequently encountered dark patches while commuting. He said he lodged formal complaints but saw no satisfactory action.Gupta had sought details of the total number of streetlights, including high-mast lights, installed across all three sections of the expressway, their functional status and the number of complaints received regarding streetlights over the past two years. NHAI responded to his RTI query on Sept 28.According to the response, NHAI received 96 complaints about streetlights on the UP Gate-to-Dasna stretch during this period. The Delhi-to-UP Gate section has 1,748 streetlights, while the Dasna-to-Meerut section has 448. All lights on both stretches were working, NHAI stated. However, NHAI received 92 complaints about streetlights on the Delhi-to-UP Gate section and none on the Dasna-to-Meerut stretch.“Despite knowing the number and location of faulty streetlights for the last two years, why did NHAI not act?” Gupta asked.An NHAI official, meanwhile, said, “Rectifying faulty streetlights is a dynamic process, and they are replaced from time to time. The work is still underway, even as NHAI has provided the exact number of faulty streetlights.”The concern comes amid a record of road accidents on NH-9. According to Ghaziabad traffic department data, the highway recorded 171 crashes, resulting in 87 deaths and 92 injuries, between 2023 and 2025.Traffic authorities have identified several accident-prone blackspots along NH-9 and DME, including areas near Manipal Hospital in Kavi Nagar, Sunderdeep College, Kaushik Dhaba, Udyog Kunj toll, Rasoolpur Sikroda and Masuri.Gupta acknowledged that accidents can result from several factors, including driver negligence, drunk driving, wrong-side driving, illegal parking and speeding. However, he said the number of crashes attributable specifically to poor visibility caused by faulty streetlights could not be established. “Should NHAI not address the problem of faulty streetlights even if it contributes to just one accident?” he said.
