To ensure safety of women travelling on city roads, the Delhi Police are all set to launch an app that will help its personnel as well as the citizens report any dark stretches they come across and flag an alert to the civic agency concerned.
Trial run
A trial run of the app is being conducted in areas under the jurisdiction of the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). Once the app passes all tests, it will be implemented in a phase-wise manner in other municipal corporations of the city.
For the trial run, two Delhi Police PCR vans have been deployed in the NDMC municipal limits to carry out a field survey of malfunctioning street lights during night hours.
If a malfunctioning street light is spotted, the GPS coordinates are marked on the app and a message is sent to senior officials of the NDMC for further action.
“The officers have a map of the street lights, provided by the NDMC, on their tablets. They will check the accuracy of the GPS coordinates and how effectively the message is relayed,” said Devendra Arya, DCP (Operations)
Will alert civic agencies
He added that after successful completion of the trial run, the app will be officially launched and will be available for download by mobile users. To maintain authenticity of the complaints, users have to confirm their mobile number by getting an OTP on their registered mobile.
“The complaints will be automatically marked to the Junior Engineer concerned for immediate redressal and the spot will be marked on the app till the problem is fixed. The status of street lights can be monitored by the JE and senior officials,” Mr Arya added.
Lutyens’ Delhi
A walk down several stretches in Lutyens’ Delhi revealed that Man Singh Road, Pandara Road, Ridge Road, Vakeel Lane, Fire Brigade Lane and several others roads were either lit patchily or entirely unlit.
At many of these roads, the street lights are either malfunctioning or so dim that they fail to illuminate the roads and pavements.
“CCTVs installed on roads are of no use in absence of light. Dark stretches are a major concern for women travelling in the city or walking from the metro station to their home. These stretches are dangerous for women and need to be adequately lit and guarded. The app is a good initiative and needs to be implemented in other districts at the earliest,” said Renu Seth, a teacher.
