Crimes rise with faulty street lights at Perungalathur

Maraimalai Adigal Street is among the busiest in the locality in the area, which has a private school, community hall and the local post office. The street is used by hundreds of people all through the day.

According to local residents, since the streetl ights stopped working, there have been several house break-ins and snatchings reported in the locality in the past few months. “We are scared to go through the street during nights, as the stretch is not illuminated. We feel very vulnerable in the dark,” said Sovin, a resident of Maramalai Adigal Street.

Children are particularly in danger, added Sovin, pointing out how they have to walk through the dark street when returning from school in the evening. It gets delayed for many of them who have to attend special classes after regular school hours. “We have lodged complaints with the local panchayats several times. But the street lights were not repaired even now,” he said.

Besides the criminals, there are other nuisances that the residents have to deal with. The cover of darkness encourages many groups of people to get together on street corners to consume liquor and even narcotics, alleged residents here. “We had taken up the matter with the local police, too, several times. But even they failed to take action,” said Shyamala N, another resident.

When contacted, the Peerkankaranai Executive Officer R Suma that they would look into the issue immediately and ensure that the streetlights on the are repaired.