The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s Public Works Department (PWD) has announced plans to illuminate over 7,000 dark spots across the Capital before the beginning of the next fiscal.
Aimed at increasing the safety of female citizens and in pursuance of one of AAP’s most significant electoral promises, PWD Minister Satyendar Jain inaugurated the installation of lights to illuminate 7,483 dark spots identified by NGO SafetiPin, which is intended to be completed by March 31, 2017.
A senior Delhi government official said that while the initial phase of the project would largely benefit areas under the jurisdiction of the north and east civic bodies, more spots would be covered after an audit by the NGO concluded that the first phase had been successful.
Women’s safety
“The dark spots were identified by the NGO. It shared the data with the Delhi Police. Work on the dark spots has been initiated after the PWD obtained no-objection certificate from the north and east civic bodies,” said a Delhi government official.
The NGO’s report, which was based on the perception of safety in relation to nine different parameters including lighting, the state of walk paths and presence of people — specifically women — on the streets, found prominent stretches in central and south Delhi to be “unsafe”.
The “unsafe” stretches included: Man Singh Road, Pandara Road, Bhishma Pitamah Marg, Moolchand Flyover and the Vasant Kunj-Mehrauli Road.
While north Delhi also scored higher in some parameters, west Delhi scored the lowest in all parameters except gender usage, which south Delhi scored low in.
“We hope that the South MCD will also expedite the process of granting NOC to the PWD so that lighting of dark spots across Delhi can be completed at the earliest,” Mr. Jain said.
He added that the government had, and would continue to seek, suggestions from stakeholders on how to make Delhi safe for women.
