Dark Mode, No streetlights on roads near Metro Stations

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Priyal Sharma, who lives on Queen’s Road, in the heart of the city, takes the metro to Vijayanagar for work every day, boarding at the Cubbon Park Metro Station. The walk back home after dark terrifies her, for even the main roads, while populated, have no streetlights. The smaller lanes are worse. The stretch that connects Infantry Road with the Queens Road Junction, for instance, where Eden Park restaurant is located, is pitch dark after dusk and lonely, too.

The Namma Metro has provided Bengaluru a quantum leap in terms of ease of commuting. However, the roads leading to the Metro Stations are often deserted and devoid of streetlights, making safe access a matter of concern, especially for women. BMRCL turned 10 in 2021 but even years after the Metro came into existence, civic authorities have done little towards last mile connectivity. The roads leading to the stations are perilous, even in the heart of the city. The Metro Stations themselves have ample security but the streets in their vicinity require patrolling too.

Priyal has resigned herself to taking the longer route through Infantry Road, which is better lit, just to stay safe. She even does this during the day. “The route takes me to the end of the platform and it’s a longer walk to the women’s compartment,” she explains. “But we, the public, have learned to adjust without expecting the authorities to make things better. They usually don’t. The street where Eden Park is located has no streetlights and walking through it in the evenings is the scariest part of my day. If I see a group of people standing at the curve, I’m intimidated, irrespective of who they are,” she says.

In India, urban planning does not involve, by default, the creation of safe public spaces for women and children. It is, however, a well-documented fact that well-lit spaces make women feel safer. While it is also true that crime can occur at any time of day, more violence does tend to take place at night. And women say they feel far more unsafe after dark than they do during the day.

It’s dangerous for both men and women

Sonal, an IT Professional says that she stopped taking the metro altogether so she doesn’t have to walk alone. Instead, she chooses to spend hundreds for her daily auto ride. “It is unsafe not just for women but for men as well. Anything could happen on such forsaken roads,” she said.

The street is the shortcut to the metro station, and there is a desperate need for streetlights to make it safe. “Especially during the rains, we could even fall into the potholes. There’s no one around to hear us even if we scream our lungs out,” Sonal said.

Just like women, men are afraid to walk or ride alone due to the fear of getting robbed. Namit Naik, Assistant Manager at a private firm, says that although he does not always take the metro, he finds riding through these streets risky.

“We fear travelling alone or letting our family members take the deserted roads. I consciously avoid low lit streets and advise my family to do the same,” he said, adding that due to the lack of streetlights, the poor visibility of the potholes and street dogs could cause accidents with irreparable damage to life and property.

Rizwan Arshad, MLA Shivajinagar said “The fact that women aren’t out on the roads at night is an indication that they don’t feel safe and that civic authorities must do more. Streetlights are a good way of making the streets more active even at night. Yes, there are gaps which we are aware of and which we are trying to fix. The long-term solution is using LED bulbs on the entire streetlight network. So this is a serious issue which will be addressed immediately.”

Cunningham Road stands out for being in the heart of the Central Business District but there are other roads without streetlights too and rendered more dangerous by the fact that they are remote. For instance, Suranjan Das Road, which connects BEML circle to HAL, and the road from the Nagarbhavi circle towards Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology (AIT) college are some streets that remain engulfed in darkness and need immediate attention.

It’s a problem across the city

Residents from Hulimavu, ITPL Brookefield Road and Suranjan Das Road, have also raised their concerns regarding poor light in the areas. “Passers-by are inconvenienced by the lack of streetlights near the lake,” said a Hulimavu resident. “Garbage and poultry waste are dumped on one side of the road, so it is difficult to walk there. It is an accident-prone area for commuters and a haven for miscreants who gather there at night.”

On Suranjan Das Road, the streetlights from BEML junction