Dark, deserted roads invite trouble for students

Colleges like ours are huge with a large number of students studying in it. At Sri Balaji Institute, we have 50% female students as we have reserved seats for them. This raises our concern for security. Time and again we have been making announcements among the students that they should avoid going outside the campus after dark. In fact, we would prefer that students do not go out after sunset. But students think that we are dictating terms. After all, it is for their own safety sake that we warn them.
An incident like the attack on Sneha Taunk is very much possible due to poor road infrastructure. There are no lights on the approach roads to our college as well as Indira College of Management and JSPM. This poses a risk to the girl students. We have also told students to go in groups if it is necessary to step out. We are also setting up a new photocopying machine in addition to the ones we already have. We have also closed one of the side gates to improve security. But I would say that the police should keep a watch and nab the miscreants and punish them. We are also planning to recruit more security guards around the campus.- Prof (Col) A Balasubramanian, president, Sri Balaji Institute

I do not reside in the hostel of the college but even then I think this place is not safe. I make it a point to go home before 7 pm. It is definitely unsafe here to step out in the dark after 7 pm or 8 pm. I think the college authorities should take this issue seriously and install street lights on the approach road. I do not know if it is owned by the college or not, but some safety measures need to be taken by concern authorities.- Tejashree Gugale, MBA student

I hail from a different city, which is why I am worried about the security when I am attending college. The recent incident of an attack on a girl at the college next door has created a panic wave among girls. I think that we need to take up this issue with our respective college heads and insist on streets lights being installed on the approach roads leading to the colleges. It is necessary that all girls take care of themselves, but even colleges should take some steps to increase security and ensure safety of the students.- Bindiya Upadhyay, BCom student

Safety is an important aspect at any educational institute. Colleges in the city areas are safer compared to institutes on the outskirts of the city. There are lots of colleges here in Wakad near the expressway. If today a girl from Indira college is attacked, similar attacks could be carried out on other girls as well in the future. I think the administrators of all the colleges should come together and find a solution to this problem.- Pooja Kumari, BCom student

We have floated tenders and invited bids for lighting of the roads. It is not only for a specific road but for all the roads in the vicinity. Once the tender is finalised, we will do the needful. The colleges have not approached us for lighting the approach roads outside their campus. Only the police had asked for blinkers as vehicles travel at very high speed on the Pune- Mumbai expressway. We have installed blinkers so that the vehicles know that they are approaching a crossroad to avoid accidents.- Ramdas Jadhav, executive engineer, electricity department, PCMC