The street lights installed on the beach 10 years ago have expired long ago. While there was light in one place, other places were in darkness. Out of 113 lights, 78 lights were useless.
As a result, incidents like robbery, theft, and eve-teasing used to happen frequently. After the news was published in various dailies including the English national daily Morning Glory, halogen lights are finally being installed to illuminate the beach. 8 lights have been installed on the first day. The lights will be installed on all the poles in phases, said ADIG Apel Mahmud, head of the Cox’s Bazar Tourist Police. He said that 6 halogen lights were installed on the first day. The district administration started the work of installing the lights after noon. A news report titled ’78 out of 113 lights are useless’ was published in various dailies. On the spot, it was seen that 6 lights have been installed from the southern end of Laboni Beach to Jhaubagan. Beach worker supervisor Mahbubul Alam Mabu is assisting in the work. He said, ‘Work has started since morning. 6 lights have been installed from Laboni to Jhaubagan.
Work will continue on Sunday as well. Electrician Nurul Abshar is working on installing the lights. He said, ‘One pillar was disconnected from the other pillar. The wires and holders were damaged in the rain. 6 lights were installed on the first day. 4 of them are 700 watts and two are 400 watts.’ It is known that in 2017, 119 pole lights (street lights) were installed from Diabetes Point to Kalatali Beach with the funding of the Beach Management Committee. Of these, 6 lights entered the airport area. Of the remaining 113 lights, 78 lights were completely damaged. Each of which has a distance of 60 to 80 meters and cost 15 lakh taka. Additional Deputy Commissioner Md. Shahidul Alam told Daily Morning Glory, ‘The work of installing the lights has started since Saturday morning. These lights are of very high quality.
They will not rust easily. They are used on ships. After installing 20, the remaining lights will be installed after checking the poles. The halogen lights will be between 700 and 400 watts. They are very powerful.” He said, “The electric wires, holders, and iron angles have rusted. We have changed them and started the work anew. If the low-cost long-term lights are installed, the beach will be illuminated. Tourists will be able to roam around without any problems.’ Additional DIG of Tourist Police Md. Apel Mahmud said, ‘The Tourist Police worked even when it was dark. Apart from Jhaubagan, suspects are being searched at various road junctions at night. Due to the presence of the tourist police, criminals no longer come to the beach area as they used to. 33 CCTV cameras, including 27, have been installed in the beach area to detect criminals. If lights are installed, the beauty of the beach at night will be revealed and it will be safe for tourists as well.