Bengaluru: The city police will soon write to the BBMP, asking them to fix faulty streetlights and to ensure streetlights on all roads, as there has been a spurt in muggings and robberies.
The police said that most of these crimes have occurred on stretches that are dark because of non-working or non-existing lights.
A senior police officer said, “Many stretches have streetlights that are not functioning, while there are also many roads that don’t have lights at all, and criminals are taking advantage of this. The people are complaining to us through social media about areas with no streetlights, which is putting the public safety in danger.”
He said, “In the past two weeks, robberies were reported in the North East division and the complainants had mentioned that there were no streetlights at the spots where the incidents took place. Recently, in Yelahanka New Town there were a series of muggings where a gang made away with mobiles of people. During the investigation, we found that there were no streetlights on the stretch and it had less movement of people. The offenders took advantage and stepped up their crimes. We should ensure that every street is well lit as it will help in public safety. It is high time the BBMP looked into this. We will discuss it with the City Police Commissioner and soon write to the BBMP about fixing streetlights."
Ms Sumana Nagaraj, a resident of Yelahanka 5th Phase said, "Streetlights function only on main roads but not in residential areas, and this poses a danger to the people as they cannot go out after dark. Streetlights are repaired after repeated complaints, but they stop functioning soon after. The BBMP's priority should be public safety, as we pay our taxes. We conveyed our message to Yelahanka police officials to inform the BBMP about streetlights and they assured us that they will take up the issue."
A couple of weeks ago, city Mayor Gangambike inspected areas near Hebbal and found that streetlights were not functioning. She asked the officers to penalise the contractor.
