The city has started witnessing the rise of youngsters who are not just concerned about their own well-being but also that of other people. Anindita Nayak, a 27-year-old from Bengaluru has taken it upon herself to map of out streetlights, collect and publish data on whether they are working or not. She has bravely taken on this mission that will benefit anyone who commutes on these dark roads that the city is riddled with.
An idea that arose from a need is what triggered Anindita to start streetlight mapping. She adds, “I commute to work on a two wheeler, no streetlights is a matter of big safety concern.
There has been a lot of talk happening around road safety and I feel streetlights are the least touched topic. There are concern around things like pothole, road-design etc not streetlights is not talked about.” For those who commute on the outer ring road that is completely devoid of streetlights, it is quite a task as people tend to drive or ride on high beam.
She adds, “While driving I find it difficult to spot pedestrians, potholes etc due to the lack of streetlights. I also realised that this was something most people face and this was something that I wanted to highlight.”
Anindita has found an effective way to map the streetlights and has managed to map over 15 km from Marathahalli to Silk Board. “While mapping, I locate the streetlight and uploaded data that says if its working or not,” she explains. Foaming lakes, pothole issues are topics that are constantly talked about and displayed on the new. On why a topic like no streetlight is discussed she says, “Things like foaming lakes and pothole are all visually out there. A lot of people face issues with streetlights but they may think that it is possible to manage without one.”
Anindita’s mapping days started with Google maps that it could only do so much. On how she maps the street avid reader says, “I started mapping the streets near home to my work place as I used this stretch frequently. The outer ring road is used by numerous commuters and I knew that they would be facing the similar problem. To ensure my safety as well as theirs, I would go from pole to pole and upload the data I find.”
Mapping a dark street is not an easy task. Anindita says, “Most of the hurdles that I faced were tactical. I was able to do this only on the weekends or after work when the traffic was not high. I started with walking from pole to pole but later switched to a vehicle out of concern for my own safety. Number that I found were really shocking.”
On whether there has been any improvement she adds, “Earlier I had contacted BBMP with the problem for which I got no response. But the good part is that ever since I started mapping, more people has are interested in such data. They had the same reaction as this has been happening in their areas and localities as well. People have begun mapping their own areas too.” When not kept busy working or mapping, she love reading, learning Jazz and mandarin.
