Photo: Prakhar Pandey
Fiat Lux’ – ‘Let there be Light’ (third verse of the Book of Genesis). The King James Bible refers to the context in which God is believed to have uttered these words. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. But the earth was void, without form, and there was darkness all around. That is when God remarked, ‘Let there be Light’…and there was light. Mankind was awakened from darkness. But the Gurgaon Administration, which tries to play god in terms of being the sole (though multi-headed) arbiter for all matters impacting the City, is seen more as the devil by the people. The Administration seems to plunge the City further into darkness every day – even literally. Most of the areas of the City just go dark after sundown – there are no streetlights. Or, where installed, most don’t work. Darkness has always scared most decent people…and encouraged criminals. So, when darkness descends on the city of Gurgaon, there is little bustle on the streets – unlike neighbouring Delhi or even other cities in NCR. At night, even late evening, not many here would like to venture out on foot, unless it is an absolute necessity. This administrative apathy helps spawn more crime and violence. Emboldened perverts commit heinous crimes and just disappear in the vast darkness. It’s difficult for the police to track all crime…and almost impossible when they have to do so in the dark. The Gurgaon police discovered the body of young Anjali in the wee hours of the morning. Her life had been snuffed out even before she could experience the joys of a teenager. She had been raped and murdered. Earlier, a two-years- old girl had been abducted and raped. The Police remain in the dark in both cases. Only preparedness against such possibilities will lessen the intensity of such heinous crimes. And for that the Administration needs to make the basic civic facilities work 24x7 – especially those that would aid in the safety of residents, especially the vulnerable.
Safetipin, an organisation that is working to make communities and cities safer, provides safety related information with the help of a map-based mobile phone application. Safetipin conducts a safety audit of an area based on 9 parameters - lighting, openness, visibility, crowds, security, walking paths, public transport, gender diversity and a ‘feeling’ of safety. It has conducted safety audits in Gurgaon since August 2013. It has mapped areas starting from the Gurgaon border on MG Road to the Rajesh Pilot Marg (near Sector 55), and Sector 104 to Palam Vihar (in the west) and the Gurgaon Toll Plaza (in the north). The audits, mainly conducted in the evenings, reveal some interesting findings. The parameters relating to lighting, crowd, security and gender diversity on the streets reveal lower values. This means that the areas under audit do not generally have adequate lighting, have low crowd turnouts after dark, have low deployment of security personnel and there are not many women to be seen on the streets after sundown. The other parameters are relatively better valued. Commenting on this, Kalpana Viswanath , the co-founder of Safetipin, laments, “It is crucial to see safety as an issue that is more than just about policing or violence. To create safer communities we need the involvement of many stakeholders, including urban planners and society in general." An audit of the areas in and around the Metro stations, both the ‘regular’ and the Rapid, also reveal a lower density of women and children during the evening hours. The issue is also that the ‘last miles’ from/to the Metro stations are often the most vulnerable areas after dark. Surprisingly, the deployment of security personnel at Metro stations is low at dusk and late evening hours - between 6 pm and 11 pm. The City administration needs to seriously take note of this. Members of Safetipin have suggested that there should be at least one police kiosk outside each Metro station, to increase the perception of safety. Further, manned kiosks and pre-paid auto and taxi stands, where all vehicles have to register before they take passengers, could lessen this burden of uncertainty and anxiety. The Gurgaon Police have made a good start with the HUDA City Centre Metro station, and have added IFFCO Chowk recently. While many city folk can choose to not go out after dark, the underprivileged have perhaps little choice in going about their lives – for work, food or just their daily chores. The plight of many working women who have to work late, like housemaids, is definitely of much concern. These women remain apprehensive all the way, every day, till they reach their homes. Says Shivani Mondol, a maid who works in the Ardee City, “I get off work only after 8 pm. In this area the street lighting is very poor. In certain stretches it is almost non-existent. Since I have to walk through these roads to get home, it is quite unnerving. Sometimes I ask my husband to come over and accompany me home, which he does. But it is not always possible to drag him from his work. I hope the Administration does something about the street lighting soon.” CA Rohini Chauhan, who resides near DLF Phase II, is blunt. “I do not see why we have to complain to the authorities about the poor condition of illumination in the evenings. Cannot they see (or not see) the state of the street lighting?” The lowest score on the Safetipin audit has been awarded to (the provision of) security (police), despite the higher reporting of crimes; this is a distinct worry for the citizens. Nearly all aspects of the audit indicate a high vulnerability for women in the face of inadequate safety measures within the City.
The crimes against women have led to concerned residents getting together to form pressure groups. A civil society group, ‘Safe Gurgaon for Women’ (SGW), is such an association, and includes Nisha Singh, the MCG Councilor for Ward 30. The Group has chosen to primarily concentrate on lighting in Gurgaon, which is often found to be grossly inadequate. According to Nisha Singh, “There are poles, but there are no lights on them. And where there are lights, they are not lit up, which is hugely frustrating.” She also blames the existence of multiple authorities for the problem. “Which cat will we bell?” she quips. In the final three months of this calendar year, in the run up to the ensuing winter months (when it would get darker earlier – and colder), SGW proposes a series of campaigns focusing on poor street lighting. “Our endeavor will be to push for better lighting on both sides of the highway, rather than the urban areas alone,” says Vinita Singh, founder and trustee of We, the People, a network of individuals and organizations committed to responsible citizenship. Of the 36 villages that make up Gurgaon, 15 are on the sides of the Highway. “To force the issue with key players such as MCG, HUDA and the builders’ community, we will co-ordinate with organisations like Ananya’s, which work with factory unions, as well as Gurgaon Ki Awaaz, which has a strong rural reach. We also believe that schoolchildren can be great catalysts for the building of awareness and for local action on civic issues,’ she says.
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