Deccan Herald 21.08.2012
Poorly-lit streets add to the
fear factor
Megha Shenoy,
Aug 21, 2012, DHNS :
Due to lack of
funds, several street lights in the City remain dysfunctional
There used to be a time when people loved taking strolls
near their houses in the evenings but now, walking in a residential area is not
the same — because most of these areas don’t have properly functioning
streetlights.
Many residents across the City rue that in the absence of proper lighting,
their lanes turn pitch dark creating problems for them, including rise of
incidents of thefts, snatching and accidents.
And interestingly, despite the noise and chaos, a lot of people prefer crowded
streets to these quiet areas in the evenings as they feel these are safer.
“It is an age-old problem. Now, people have got used to driving and
walking through the poorly-lit streets,” fumes Raksha, a resident of Ulsoor.
She adds, “Whatever lights are functional hardly glow during night time; it is
the light from vehicles that occasionally lights up the streets here.”
Many residents in Koramangala describe the street lights in their area as mere
showpieces — especially near the Koramangala Club, where lanes are very poorly
lit.
People living nearby say that despite many complaints, nothing substantial has
been done about it.
Roshan, who lives there, says that even riding on those lanes after sunset
becomes a problem.
“The streetlights are perfect showpieces. It becomes very difficult to drive
after sunset and the problem becomes worse during the rainy season,” he
says.
He adds, “With no lights and the presence of potholes, riding can be dangerous.
Many minor accidents have also occurred due to these non-functional lights. It
seems the authorities are waiting for a major accident to occur before
repairing these.”
Ask the BESCOM about this
situation and it brushes off the responsibility, saying it is the job of the
BBMP. Says Venkatesh, the AGM from the BESCOM, “Our responsibility is to only
provide the power to these lights and not to maintain them. It is the BBMP
which give us the requirement and we fulfill it.”
When the BBMP was contacted, it was interesting to find out that there is
actually no criteria regarding the number of streetlights that should be
installed in either a residential or commercial area.
“It all depends on the local contractor as there are no hard and fast rules on
how many lights are required per area,” states Govindaiah, the electrical
executive engineer of the BBMP.
He does admit that the City is not as well lit as it was before and he blames
the lack of funds for the same.
“Over the last few years, there are many new areas that have been
introduced in the City and since there is lack of funds, we are unable to
install streetlights everywhere.
Plus, on a monthly basis, nearly Rs three crore is used just to maintain
the existing lights in the City and around nine crore is spent on energy. So
with no proper funds, it does become a challenge to maintain these lights — let
alone install more,” he states.
