Without streetlights at night, residents of Shariatpur face security risks

Although Shariatpur Municipality was promoted to a first-class municipality 20 years ago, people living there have yet to receive many amenities worthy of the status. The municipality does not even have a supply of safe drinking water. Most areas do not have sufficient streetlights.

As the streets are engulfed in darkness at night, incidents of theft, robbery and mugging have continued to rise. A spike in drug addiction has also been noticed in the area.

Shariatpur Municipality Commissioner and Additional Deputy Commissioner Pinky Saha says streetlights are not the municipality’s only problem. However, 200 new streetlights will be installed, she said.

Municipality residents complain that the bulbs in the lampposts have been out of order for a long time but no one has bothered to fix them. According to the municipal authorities, more than half of the streetlights are out of order, forcing people to depend on the lights installed outside roadside commercial buildings at night.

The narrow streets in the residential neighbourhoods face the most difficulties. Many of them become pitch dark in the evening, making things difficult for pedestrians. Under the circumstances, the number of thefts, robberies and muggings has increased.

Residents blamed the apathy of the municipal authorities for the current situation.

Shariatpur Municipality was launched in 1985. The municipality includes nine wards, has a size of 24.75 square kilometres, and a population of more than 55,000. It was promoted to a second-class municipality in 1996, and to first class in 2005.

Although a few streetlights can be seen in the main part of the municipality and some of the residential areas, they are not present on the smaller roads and alleys.

College Road, Dhanuka, Palongschool Road and some other areas have become dens of drug addicts, residents allege.

Harun Bepari, a resident of North Baluchara in Ward No.5 said a few lampposts were installed in his area six to seven years ago. The bulbs went out of order within one and a half years. Though residents are scared to travel after dark, they still have to pay the same taxes as the residents of other parts of the city.

Billal Khan, a resident of Ward No. 1, said there was no streetlight in his area for more than a year. It becomes pitch dark in the evening and drug peddling, mugging incidents are rampant.

Fruit seller Anwar said the entire area becomes dark once the shops close and some traders keep the lights on outside their shops to ensure security.

There are at least 2,000 commercial spaces at the Chowrangi intersection, Daak Office Road, and Nirala Residential Area. These roads buzz with pedestrians until late at night. But most of the roads do not have streetlights.

Bishu Nath from the Rinpara area said drug addicts can be seen in the area at night and thefts and muggings have increased. Despite this, the administration has remained silent on the issue, he said.

Municipality Executive Officer Md Enamul Haque said sometimes the lights were broken due to natural disasters or transformer explosions. Lights have also been damaged by criminals throwing stones. Some light bulbs were also stolen.

Repairing the streetlights is a continuous process, he said.

Municipality administrator Pinky said authorities are installing 200 new streetlights and trying to work within the budget.

She said authorities have been trying to resolve different problems, including removing hawkers from footpaths, after she took over as the administrator.