Bengaluru: Last month, two riders met with a serious accident at Sector 7 in HSR Layout as they could not see the speed-breaker in the pitch-dark stretch. Sectors 6 and 7 in HSR Layout, which were developed recently, have been facing a number of civic issues, but the authorities have failed to address the problems.
“The two sectors are impossible to navigate in the night and one has to depend on the lights from nearby houses and vehicle headlights to go through the roads. The stretches are not well-lit as the distance between streetlights is huge and also, many streetlights have not been replaced in a long time,” the area residents complained. BWSSB has taken up works of a big drain passing through the area, and residents are wary of riding or walking through these roads, as they are scared of falling into one of these pits, which cannot be seen in the night, or getting molested, they said.
“The roads are not lit properly and the speed-breakers are not marked. The authorities have not taken any action,” said Ms Pushpa Kumar, a member, HSR Layout Civic Action.
The area has also reported chain-snatching incidents. “On July 28, a girl was walking in Sector 7 and a few miscreants tried to molest her. She screamed and called her friend for help, only then the molesters ran away. The police seem to be only busy with towing away vehicles from no-parking zones. There is absolutely no police patrolling in the area. I am too scared to live here, and our family is relocating from this area in a month,” she said.
Though the authorities promised the residents over a year ago that civic works would be completed and street lights installed, the two sectors are yet to see the development works being completed.
Mr Adwait Thakur, a local resident, was travelling from a restaurant in Sector 7 to his house in BTM Layout when he met with an accident. “The street was very badly lit and I could not see the speed-breaker. I and my friend suffered severe injuries. It took a month for us to recover. In Sectors 6 and 7, the distance between streetlights is huge and there is not enough lighting on the roads. Headlights of vehicles are not enough to see the ditches and speed-breakers. Also, there are many areas in HSR Layout where the roads are in a pathetic condition,” he said.
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Sectors 6 and 7 are not well-lit. It is leading to accidents. What are you doing about it?
Soon, we will install LED lights and we are working on repairing the lights that are not working.
There is an increase in chain-snatching incidents and nobody has been caught. Have the authorities installed CCTV cameras?
Yes, we have around 400 cameras in the entire layout that are monitored by the police. I don’t think that the offenders can actually save themselves after committing the crime.
What is the progress on the construction of drains in Sectors 6 and 7?
We will complete the project by this month-end and we will also finish all the civic works.
