Pramod Chavan
The Hiranandani Gardens area, considered the pride of Powai and one of the most popular suburbs in Mumbai, is in dire straits at present. Street lights at many places have been dysfunctional. In some places, street lights have not been approved yet. Citizens have begun complaining about a spike in anti-social and deviant activities in the unlit patches, posing a potential law and order challenge.
Mumbai is just recovering following the opening up of the lockdown, while struggling to get life back on track amidst the still uncured Coronavirus, cases of which do not seem to be abating. However, the Hiranandani Gardens in Powai, one of Mumbai’s most prestigious areas, have been in a state of bad condition.
“We have not seen any such road or square in Hiranandani Gardens where the street lights have been working properly for the last several days. This has spread the realm of darkness in the streets and squares of area. Taking advantage of this darkness, youngsters are coming out of the vehicles and sitting here and getting drunk, creating nuisance creating conducive conditions for illegal activity happening there,” said Rajan Parkar, a local resident.
No approvals received for street light
He further said, “On the road leading to New Hiranandani School, there are no street lights. Still there are no approvals received for street light. The situation is similar in the two grounds adjacent to the school. This has created a nuisance in the area. There are also some residential buildings on this road, the citizens of which have to suffer unnecessarily. We have also written to the Municipal Corporation, the police and the Hiranandani group in this regard, but no one seems to be acting.”
“Along with the Hiranandani area, the roads here are of good quality. Taking advantage of this, some youngsters from nearby Parksite, Sangharsh Nagar, IIT residential area, Khairani Road bring motorcycles and racing on the roads here. Changing the silencer of the bike and car these naughty youngsters are wandering all over the road, making a strange and irritating noise. This has caused pain to the citizens. We are also afraid to get out of our house, may one of these vehicles come and hit us,” said locals.
They further added, “Commandos placed by the developer in the area in the past were seen working on streets. They were catching them and sending them out, away. But now they have become less visible and are not seen taking action. Police are also turning a blind eye.”
Repair work is underway
Based on the complaint, Adani Energy officials Chaudhary and another colleague have visited the area. “Some of the street lights in the area have been damaged due to rains. Their repair work is currently underway through Adani Energy. All repairs will be completed in the next 8 to 10 days. The process of approving the street lights in the Richmond to New Hiranandani school area is underway. Until then, we have installed 4 halogen lights as a temporary facility. These lights are installed in such a way that the mountain side and the entire road will be illuminated. Talks have been held with Municipal Officer Sonar about installing street lights in the open space next to the school. The work will start as soon as the rains stops”, said Sudipta Lahiri of Hiranandani Group.
This is an example of how even the skyscraper could not escape when the Corona made everyone miserable. However, residents are now expressing concern that if the situation is not addressed in time, it will not take long to become an epicentre of crime.
(Source: Planet Powai)
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