Criminals rule streets as city plunges into darkness

Criminals feel encouraged to commit muggings under such conditions, often robbing rickshaw passengers or passers-by.

The Chittagong City Corpora-tion (CCC), the authority responsible for the streetlights, spends around Tk 50 lakh a year for the procurement and maintenance of the lights. But a good number of the lights, approximately one-fourth, are not functioning despite the expenditures.

The street darkness also gives rise to anti-social activities, including drug peddling and prostitution, which in turn has a negative impact on the socio-cultural environment of the adjoining localities, some residents alleged.

Unofficial statistics suggest that as many as a dozen crimes, mostly muggings, occur everyday on the dark streets of the city, although the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) have no record in this regard, since most the incidents remain unreported.

During an inspection last Thursday, this correspondent discovered that most of the streetlights at Ghani Bakery, College Road, Chandanpura, Bakalia, Mohammadpur, Bayezid Bostami, Sadarghat, Patharghata, Madarbari, Ambagan, Jhautala, Tigerpass, Pathantuli, Halishahar, Katapahar, Almas Crossing, Golpahar Moor, Rupnagar as well as the border areas of the city, including Foteyabad, Aman Bazar and Balu Chhara areas, are not functioning.

It is furthermore alleged that the absence of proper supervision and maintenance by the authorities encourages burglars to steal the valuable lights and other electrical equipment from the lampposts.

The CMP has also failed to meet its expectations in keeping vigil over the darkened streets, adopting instead a casual and indifferent attitude toward the matter, residents alleged. The police neither resist the anti-social activities nor provide safety to the people who passes through the dark streets at night.

Farzana Abedin Esmi, a housewife in Andarkilla area, narrated to this correspondent the bitter experience she faced the other day as a result of the darkness on the streets.

"I lost all my gold ornaments worth about Tk 45,000 at the Ghani Bekari intersection a few days ago," she said.

"I along with my husband was going to a jewellery shop at Mimi Super Market to make orders for new ornaments. We were carrying around four tolas of gold and a cell phone. Suddenly some muggers intercepted our rickshaw, snatched all that we have and whisked off. We screamed for help but nobody came to our aid. The worst thing was that we didn't notice any policeman at the dark places," Esmi fumed.