The toto driver who raped and murdered a 14-year-old girl in New Town earlier this month may have been caught, but residents do not feel safe.
The girl’s body was found in the bushes near the “loha pool” behind NBCC Vibgyor Towers in CE Block, and residents point out that there are many more such unkempt patches and deserted stretches where crimes can be committed, away from the public eye. And it’s not just about women’s safety. Dimly lit and deserted areas are also hunting grounds for snatchers and muggers.
The Telegraph Salt Lake drove around New Town to spot several stretches where commuters feel threatened.
NEAR ISKCON
One end of the Iskcon New Town Gouranga Nitai temple is well-lit, but the other is so dark that one hesitates to approach it, even by car. The side is sandy with sparse trees and the street could be a black hole. Gradually a distant light comes into focus and you hear a horn before you realise it’s a two-wheeler approaching and move out of the way. “I live there,” toto driver Shymal Mondal points into the dark. “My house is in Kadagram, which can only be reached after a 10-minute ride through this darkness. This entire stretch used to be dark, but a couple of years ago, one end of Iskcon heading towards Shukhobrishti got well lit.”
Mondal, who serves devotees arriving at and leaving the temple, has seen dacoities take place here. “Once, a devotee left the temple at 11pm and a man with a weapon the size of a small sword threatened him with it and made off with his phone,” he says.
Rahul Singh, a security staff at the temple gate, agreed that the situation was better since lights were installed on one side. “Certainly, more devotees would come from the other side if the lighting were better. Now, no one comes from that side after dark,” he said.
NEAR INFOSYS
The road from Uniworld City to Hatishala is a long and desolate stretch, and beyond the Infosys office, rows of trucks are parked along the sides, on the roads, and even in double or quadruple lanes in some cases.
Such trucks can also be seen parked near Akankha More. “Truck drivers and their assistants are my biggest customers,” said Enamul Molla, preparing rotis at a roadside stall nearby. “They bring sand and construction material at night, unload the same, and come to eat. We serve until midnight, but they linger on.” The Telegraph Salt Lake, however, could not spot a single driver to speak to at either location.
Residents say they feel unsafe with so many trucks even in broad daylight. “Akankha More is a busy junction where many women get off buses. What if a driver drags one of them to the top of a truck? These vehicles need to be regulated, and surprise police patrols are a must,” saidSulata Das of Mallika Malancha.
UNDER-CONSTRUCTION BUILDINGS
“Since New Town is an upcoming township, every lane has buildings under construction, and these labourers start drinking from 6pm. Saturdays are especially unbearable. They are loud and spill onto the streets sometimes,” said Babita Burman, who was riding a scooter to have snacks near Eco Urban Village Saturday evening. “Walking through these lanes is just not an option for women.”
Her pillion-rider friend M. Majumdar does not ride a scooter, “so I’m forced to walk sometimes and feel scared for my life if I have to do so after dark,” she said.
Anuradha Biswas, of the nearby Mallika Malancha complex, said even mornings aren’t safe. “Even those of us going for morning walks avoid lanes with under-construction buildings as we feel unsafe. Vehicles seldom need to enter these lanes and so the stretches are desolate.”
NEAR CNCI
One side of CNCI (Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute) is a marketplace, but the other is a deserted picture. “That area needs to be crossed by those headed to 18 Tola Market, but it’s so deserted we avoid it after dark,” said Rakesh Gupta of Balaka Abasan.
“That’s the route into the villages, so the authorities don’t pay attention to it,” says Subrata Kumar Mondal, who runs a nursery opposite CNCI.
“This is a hospital, so the front is safe and secure. But the side is so empty that no one will know if something untoward happens there.”
“For the Bengal Global Business Summit, they put enough lights on the main road to put the festival of Diwali to shame, but on the fringes of the same township, kids are getting killed in the cover of darkness,” said a resident who lives near Nazrul Tirtha, asking to be anonymous as he is a government employee.
ALIAH UNIVERSITY STRETCH
The stretch from Eco Space to Aliah University and beyond is like a lonesome highway, with not even teashops visible for kilometres. The service lane has no lights, with sand and construction materials piled up, and the broad divider between the road and service lane has unkempt trees and bushes.
There are a few institutes like SPK Jain Futuristic Academy and The Bhawanipur Education Society College campus on the way, but after dark, they are nothing more than shut gates.
“Travelling inside cars, we don’t realise it, but those who have to get off buses and walk short distances run huge risks. If someone is dragged into a vehicle or into the jungles on the side, nobody would know,” says Das of Mallika Malancha, adding that she always knew an incident such as the one at the loha pool was waiting to happen.
“During (former Hidco and NKDA chief) Debashis Sen’s tenure, trees would get trimmed in monsoon, but now even that’s not happening, so street lights are getting blocked. Save a few pockets in Action Area 1, New Town is still deserted and neglected.”
