Despite a lot of planning, public transport — especially buses — is yet to allow the average Delhi woman a sense of safety.
Four years after the December 16 gang-rape triggered public outcry over the safety — or lack thereof — which women encounter in public places, especially while using public transport, only a handful of buses being operated by the DTC are equipped with CCTV cameras and GPS.
According to a senior government official, only 200 buses of the 4,000 low-floor buses are equipped with CCTV cameras and GPS systems. Also, only 100 air-conditioned buses that were recently flagged off as part of the cluster service [which consists of around 1,600 buses], are GPS-enabled.
“We are in the process of equipping the entire fleet with CCTVs and GPS. Tenders are being floated for this,” said a senior government official.
The number of security personnel — mostly Home Guards — on DTC buses is also less than what is required. According to the official, around 3,000 marshals are deputed on buses post-evening to see that women passengers are not harassed.
Number of marshals
being increased
“The strength of marshals aboard buses is being augmented by including civil defence volunteers,” the official said while adding that the government was in the process of ensuring that at least 400 buses saw the deployment of such personnel by the end of this financial year.
If not being able to increase its fleet due to lack of bidders for tenders wasn’t problematic enough, what could have been a novel solution to addressing the issue of last-mile connectivity through midi- and mini-buses is also yet to see the light of day. The Delhi government had also planned to run over 1,000 feeder buses to meet the shortage of public transport, besides addressing the issue of last-mile connectivity in a city where a majority of the 42,000 dark spots are located on arterial roads and near bus stops or metro stations. However, these too are yet to be secured.
According to a government official, the Delhi government will soon introduce a fleet of 800 buses.
Of these, 431 buses will be air-conditioned for different clusters, in addition to stepping up efforts to procure midi- and mini-buses.
