Gurgaon: Commuters using the nearly 380-metre-long Ambience Mall U-turn underpass on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway navigated the stretch in darkness for two days after Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) disconnected its electricity supply over non-payment of dues by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The supply was restored on Friday evening, a DHBVN official said, citing the larger public interest.The outage raised safety concerns, particularly during the ongoing monsoon, when poor visibility inside the underpass makes driving more challenging. The connection was disconnected after NHAI failed to clear electricity dues of over Rs 1 lakh, which were due on July 28.NHAI acknowledged the pending payment and said the amount was being processed on priority, with dues expected to be cleared within four working days. “Since this is a public facility used by thousands of commuters every day, the power supply should not have been disconnected. DHBVN should be considerate in such cases involving public safety,” an NHAI official said, adding that the authority had written to DHBVN seeking immediate restoration.Calling the underpass a “critical public utility,” NHAI said such connections serving essential highway infrastructure should not be disconnected over a few days’ delay in payment, and noted that procedural delays in processing payments by govt agencies sometimes occur even when late fees are paid.DHBVN, however, maintained that the disconnection followed its standard billing norms. “The dues has been pending for two months. We issue repeated reminders before taking action, including sharing pending bill details through WhatsApp groups and warnings after the due date is crossed. The same procedure is followed for every consumer, and there is no separate rule for any particular agency,” a DHBVN official said.The underpass sees heavy traffic through the day. With streetlights non-functional during the outage, commuters said visibility dropped sharply even in daylight, forcing them to rely on headlights. “Once you enter the underpass, it becomes difficult to see the road ahead, and during rain, the windshield is already wet — the darkness makes it even harder to spot vehicles changing lanes,” said Gaurav Yadav, a resident of DLF-3 and a daily commuter.Surender Nanda, a resident of DLF-2, said the problem is recurring. “The streetlights here have malfunctioned several times in the past. Thousands of vehicles use this underpass every day, but basic maintenance for road safety is missing. Such lapses should not happen on a major road,” he said.Apart from faulty lighting, commuters said the underpass has also been reeling from cabs parked inside for long durations, reducing the effective carriageway and creating blind spots for motorists — a combination they described as a serious safety hazard.The issue is not limited to the Ambience underpass. Commuters have repeatedly complained of poor lighting at the Signature Towers and Medanta Hospital underpasses as well, where faulty streetlights have frequently left the structures inadequately lit for days before repairs are undertaken.
