No streetlights in Udyog Vihar, women feel unsafe
With more than 1,200 industrial and commercial units, including IT majors and two five-star hotels, the bustling Udyog Vihar area turns into a dark alley after sunset.
With more than 1,200 industrial and commercial units, including IT majors and two five-star hotels, the bustling Udyog Vihar area turns into a dark alley after sunset.
Apart from poor police presence here, most streetlights across all the five phases of the industrial hub are not in working order.
And it's not just the bylanes that are poorly lit. Even roads in the vicinity of The Oberoi and Trident, and the ones near major firms such as TCS, IBM, HCL, Quatro and Spice Jet, are not well-lit in Udyog Vihar Phase 4.
And that's not the end of official apathy here. As per an RTI reply from the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation (HSIIDC), it was revealed that the industrial hub promoter had recently spent R18 lakh to fix the non-functional streetlights.
Moreover, as per the RTI reply, the HSIIDC and the Gurgaon labour department have no data on the number of women working in Udyog Vihar. This is despite the fact that the area is a hub of small scale industries.
According to unofficial estimates, around 10,000 women work here, including hundreds who work in night shifts at several BPOs.
Area residents say the authorities discriminate between the locals and the VIPs even when it comes to streetlighting.
"During the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) conference held in Udyog Vihar in November, the stretch used by dignitaries remained illuminated for a week or so," said a resident.
The lack of such basic amenities had adversely affected the law and order situation.
On December 12, a 30-year-old resident had approached the police after she was sexually assaulted by four men. She was on her way to a nearby temple along with her brother and a colleague around 7.30pm.
Incidents of eve teasing and molestation, residents say, are frequent as offenders take advantage of the darkness.
"The rise in the number of such incidents has forced women labourers in the area to carry chilli powder as a self defence tool when they return to their shanties in the evening," said Aseem Takyar, an industrialist.
A senior HSIIDC official, however, said that the work on the streetlights is being taken up on a large scale and changes will be visible within a month.