A year after the gangrape and murder of a veterinarian doctor in Hyderabad – dubbed Disha* in the media – the Shadnagar Municipal officials are yet to complete street lighting work to remove dark spots from the area. Municipal officials have so far spent Rs 5.2 lakh illuminating Shadnagar where the burnt body of the woman was recovered, but there are 48 localities remaining that require street lights.
The municipality also owes the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), which is carrying out the street lighting work, Rs 34,25,204 in pending dues for the work done so far, reveals a Right to Information query by the Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance.
“There is no street lighting along the Chatanpally Highway. The highway is dark but the police have increased patrols in the last one year since the gangrape and murder,” says Naresh, a resident of Raikal village in Shadnagar to TNM. “Inside most villages, there are street lights, but none leading up to the highway,” says the local.
Disha, the 26-year-old veterinarian was gangraped on November 26 near the Shamshabad toll plaza while returning home. Her charred body was found the next day morning beneath an underpass the following morning by locals at Shadnagar. The incident had sparked national outrage. The Cyberabad police nabbed the four accused in the gangrape and murder but shot dead the four men in an alleged encounter, barely meters away from where Disha’s body was burnt.
Amount Spent for illumination purpose to fix the #Darkspots in #Nandikonda #Shadnagar Municipalities
— Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance (@SSPGHyd) January 30, 2021
Even After one Year of #disha #Incident still there are 42 Pending Dark Spots in #Shadnagar Municipality@DonitaJose @cyberabadpolice@acpshadnr_cyb @Sunil38687170 @sowmith7 pic.twitter.com/kwMCkytPZv
Responses to an RTI query filed with the Shadnagar municipality shows that between November 2019 to 2020, about 78 dark spots were identified. The municipality managed to resolve the dark spot areas for 36 localities and says the remaining 48 dark spots will be resolved after obtaining LED lights from EESL.
The municipality has so far spent Rs 5,22,704 for the lighting works between that period and has dues worth Rs 34,25,204 to be paid to EESL for the work already done. The Assistant Engineer for the Shadnagar municipality was unavailable for comment.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court on Friday extended the term of the judicial commission probing the alleged extrajudicial killing of the four accused in the Disha case by another six months. The commission was constituted in December 2019 and was given six months to complete the inquiry. The commission met only once in February 2020 and have since then been unable to carry their work forward due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
*Not her real name