Sector V, Rajarhat turn into criminals’ den after dark

KOLKATA: Salt Lake Sector V and Rajarhat have remained the Achilles’ heel of the government for years as far as road safety is concerned. With a Nasscom survey revealing that 95% of IT employees prefer shuttle cars, Thursday’s rape incident certainly has come as an eye-opener for those who hop on to a car in the dead of night just to reach home early.
According to IT professionals, the situation has certainly improved over the years, but there is lot more to achieve. “The area is not safe at all for women after dark. Some time back, one of my colleagues was returning home after 10pm when some miscreants suddenly started to stalk her. She had to run back home,” said a call centre employee.
It is learnt that Rajarhat expressway is particularly very unsafe after dark. “There is a long stretch beyond the Action Area I where no policemen can be spotted. It makes the passers-by vulnerable,” a local said.
Disgusted with the (dis)arrangements of the government, many IT companies have started to rely on their internal security arrangements to provide security to their female employees. “We provide security to each of our female employees. Every female employee is escorted by a male colleague on the first drop or last pick up in night, even if that means the male employee has to travel a few miles extra,” said Acclaris MD Subrata Mukherjee.
IT companies feel that security on the road is extremely important. Apart from additional security, more police patrolling is required and street lightings should be more adequate. “Some police vehicles are seen patrolling now-a-days. This is a welcome change, but there are no police booths,” an IT professional said. The Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority had also earlier held meetings with the Bidhannagar police to discuss on security matters and how security could be beefed up in Sector V. The Bidhannagar police have also hired green police in both Sector V and Rajarhat to assist the police in law and order and traffic matters.
“We had already asked the companies to prepare and keep a list of the cars and vehicles that they are using. We have suggested to install GPS system in the company-hired vehicles,” said Bidhannagar police DC (HQ) Subrata Banerjee.