Ganja peddlers behind many defunct streetlights in city, says GVMC Commissioner

Ganja users damaging streetlights in Visakhapatnam, leading to dark streets and increased dog menace, prompting GVMC action.

Visakhapatnam

Ganja users are behind the damaged streetlights in many areas of the city, likely because the peddlers prefer to sell the drug in the cover of the dark, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner P. Sampath Kumar told The Hindu.

Mr. Kumar said, “There are complaints about streetlighting problems and dark streets in the city. Apart from technical reasons, we recently noticed that some people, including ganja users, are intentionally damaging the streetlights. We have observed that one of the kingpins is damaging the lamps as they need dark streets to carry out their illegal activities.”

It was observed in a series of reviews conducted by the civic body authorities after many complaints from the public about the defunct street lights in their localities, Mr. Kumar said.

According to the officials, over 4,000 of the 1.18 lakh streetlights in the city are defunct currently.

K. Haritha, a teacher and resident of Kommadi, said, “It is dangerous to walk along the road from St. Ann’s CBSE School at Bakkannapalem to the highway in Madhurawada.”

“We have brought this matter to the notice of the Visakhapatnam City Police. After doing our internal research and study, we identified 89 dark streets/areas in the city, and shared the details with them,” added the GVMC Commissioner.