A dark street seems to be the quintessential image of Bengaluru, at least going by the number of complaints Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has received on its dedicated grievance redressal website.
The website (http://bbmp.sahaaya.in/) and a mobile application were launched in December-end. In a month’s time, the citizen-centric portal has received 715 complaints. Of them, 40 per cent pertain to malfunctioning streetlights and dark stretches of road. The other common complaints are about garbage not being cleared, poor condition of roads, stray dog menace and blocked drainage.
The poorly lit roads, the police believe, is one of the reasons for the increase in criminal activities. City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi conceded that dysfunctional streetlights had a bearing on policing and safety. He pointed out that in the South East division, there has been a spike in the number of robberies, and that is a cause of concern. “In many parts of the city, especially near the outskirts, either the streetlights are very few or non-existent,” he added.
“Women will definitely feel unsafe in areas that are poorly lit. There are chances of increased sexual harassment in such areas,” Gowri from Karnataka Janashakti said, adding that BBMP should ensure that streetlights are there in all localities.
