The dark side of the road

Mismanaged lighting

While there are a couple of dark and dingy stretches in the City, there are also roads where the streetlights are left on throughout the day.

This can be seen in areas like Sanjaynagar, Nagarbhavi and Malleswaram among others. Bangaloreans find this exasperating and point out that when there are roads that have no lighting at all, leaving streetlights on in other parts is a waste of money and resources.

Sharmista BS, a professional, says it’s funny how sometimes a stretch in one area has no streetlights while another in the same place remains lit all the time.

 “I have noticed this in Yeshwanthpur,” she says. Sreeja S, another professional, says that while some places have too many streetlights, some have none at all.
 “Some of the streets in Koramangala are dark with the cross-roads being dimly lit. But some places near Madiwala and Electronic City have lights left on even at 9.45 am,” she says. Dark stretches attract a lot of crime and are unsafe for women. Sreemanth Kalyan, a student of Bangalore University, says it’s sad how streetlights are not there in several places on campus.

“The campus is huge and it is scary when it is dark. It’s like passing through a forest. Not all the zebra crossings are marked and not all reflectors are functioning. So when there are no streetlights, it is hard to move around,” he says. Even the commercial areas with plenty of shops and offices don’t have proper streetlights.

“There are many IT companies on Bannerghatta Road but the stretches here lack proper lighting. The Ranka Colony Road in Bilekahalli, Bannerghatta Road is a classic example. It’s very dark in the evenings,” says Nisha Jain.

She also points out that it is the lights from the shops that light up this stretch. “Besides, there is construction work going on here. So it could be risky for pedestrians,” she says. Even motorists find it hard to ride on such dark stretches.

“There are places where the streetlights are on throughout the day. This wastage cannot be ignored. In fact, one has to use bright lights while riding because there aren’t enough streetlights,” says Akarsh Hemanth, a resident of Ulsoor.
He also suggests that the government should set up a regulatory board to prevent wastage of electricity.

BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana admits that there are many areas in the City that lack proper lighting. He concedes that he sees streetlights left on throughout the day in a few areas as well.

“We have been addressing all the complaints on streetlights on a priority basis. There are about 16,000 circuits identified by the BBMP which will have the automatic switching on and off option with a timer. The streetlights will come on after 6.30 pm and automatically switch off at 6 am,” says Lakshminarayana. He adds that 14,000 such circuits have been provided and the BBMP along with BESCOM intend to provide an additional 2,000 by the end of  2014. “This will help save a lot of power,” he sums up.