Growing Dark Corners of Def Col Add to Daily Colony Crimes

The residents of Defence Colony are facing issues of poor street lighting in most of the lanes in the colony. The BSES workers are either busy in other issues or not inclined to check and repair the faulty lights in the colony which is creating hassles for the residents who keep complaining but don’t get any positive response or say any response from the Electricity department (BSES).

What’s the issue:

• The old street lights are not working in the front as well as service lanes for months
• These dark spots or lanes are resulting in security issues for the residents as there are druggies who use these dark lanes to enter the houses easily from the service lanes.
• It can also be risky for commuters— whether on foot or in a vehicle and there are many potholes which are dangerous for the residents especially senior citizens and kids.
• Without adequate lighting, it’s much more difficult for drivers to see potential hazards on the road, road signs, other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Additionally, bad lighting can exacerbate certain driving hazards. Streetlights are required to be placed in a way that’s beneficial instead of harmful.
  One of the residents Mrs. Arora said the approach road to her residence from the market does not have streetlights, which restricts residents’ movement after sundown. “I avoid taking walks at night unless there is another person accompanying me; I do not feel safe in my own neighbourhood in this Fauzi colony,” she said. Another Resident explained that sometimes one has to walk 300-400 metres in the dark to reach home or market or club and I remember almost getting mugged on one occasion by two men on a bike. Fortunately, a PCR vehicle was passing by and the two men fled,” Mrs. Singh said.
  What are the solutions for this issue:
• The RWA’s need to depute block-wise volunteers from the elected team to Regularly conduct survey or keep noting down complaints from the residents on RWA groups and make a Weekly list.
• These volunteers must coordinate with the BSES officers in writing and follow up regularly till the street lights are rectified/replaced as per the list.
• The pruning of trees is also important as most of the lights are hidden due to overgrown branches.
• The security team would be quite useful in making a list of all faulty lights during the night and hand over to the RWA next day to get them rectified immediately
• There is also a need to install more lights in the dark corners of the colony
• The service lanes are most important as most of the criminals use them for their nefarious activities in the darkness.
  Lastly, we at Samvada request all the residents to install CCTV and other security systems in their houses in the front as well as in the back lanes and keep one light on both sides of the house to deter the criminals.

by Ajay Kumar (A-440, 9999055994)