Safety
1. Do women think twice before stepping out alone, at night?
2. Are your roads well-illuminated?
3. Have LED lights replaced sodium vapour lamps, at least in the most sensitive sections?
4. Are avenue trees trimmed regularly to ensure they don’t block the streetlights?
5. Is there a police booth?
6. Are CCTV cameras installed at strategic locations?
7. Do house owners promptly report details of tenants to the police?
8. Do beat policemen report every day and sign the register?
9. Is there police-people partnership in patrolling?
10. In the case of gated communities, are fire drills conducted regularly?
11. Are apartments adequately equipped with basic firefighting equipment?
12. Are residents trained to use these equipment?
Accessibility
1. Are the pavements broad and free of encroachments?
2. Do government offices, if any, function from the ground floor for the benefit of seniors?
3. Do these government offices have ramps?
4. In the event of a fire, can fire engines and tower ladders access buildings quickly?
5. Can cyclists ride around the neighbourhood without fear of being knocked down?
6. Are streets free of illegal parking so that residents aren’t prevented entry into their own houses?
Recreation
1. Do you have a park and a playground in your neighbourhood?
2. Are they well-maintained and kept out of bounds for miscreants?
3. If there are waterbodies, are they beautified and provided with added facilities, such as a walkway and benches?
Waste Management
1. Are there efforts to promote source segregation of waste?
2. Is there a concerted effort among residents to go (garbage) bin-less?
3. Are commercial establishments that litter the area called out?
Transport
1. Are there bus stops nearby?
2. In the case of interior areas, are there small buses?
Auditing your turf: The nuts and bolts of it
*First things first, you need people. Build a team of volunteers, primarily residents. The volunteers should be put through an orientation, possibly with the help of groups that can offer expert advice. Examples: Chennai Connect, Action Aid and Jagori. Orientation includes encouraging volunteers to take photos and videos and showing them how to conduct spot interviews.
*Break down the team into smaller groups, tasking each with a specific assignment. For example, a team carrying out a safety audit will meet residents and gather details pertaining only to safety.
*Create an app that will help in data gathering.
*To ensure the initiative is kept going, the teams have to exchange notes constantly and encourage one another.
*The core team should review the progress of the audit.
Why are safety audits important?
According to Swarna Rajagopalan, the managing trustee of Prajnya, a safety audit is not just a tool to gauge how safe a locality is for women. “It’s an important civic exercise,” she says. “This is an opportunity to connect with people in your neighbourhood. It will also make the residents aware of their surroundings. Once a volunteer-resident goes through a safety-audit training, she becomes more sensitive to her surroundings and will be able to identify what is immediately fixable.”
Case Studies:
A step towards an inclusive beach
Members of Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) have received a thumbs-up from the Greater Chennai Corporation for the access audit they carried out at the Marina and Elliot’s beach. The results of the access audit, completed last month, were submitted to Corporation officials who have asked DRA to submit a plan for the implementation of the project. “We are currently working with the architect, who is helping us identify the material to be used to design the pathway. The composite plan will also include construction of a mobile toilet,” said Shankar of DRA. According to DRA, the challenge is to continue pursuing the issue with the officials so that the pedestrian pathway is ready by December 3, which is World Disability Day. Last year, on December 3 Chennai Corporation created a temporary pathway on the Marina Beach.
Citizens initiative
Civic audits, initiated by Arappor Iyakkam along with the residents, have pushed government agencies to address a raft of issues. Last year, a social audit detailing encroachments that block drains carrying rainwater to large waterbodies in the Pallavaram municipality led the Public Works Department to initiate a corrective action. Similarly, in Mandaveli, residents initiated an audit of stormwater drain in ward 173, bringing together officials from various departments to review the situation. The exercise led to the stormwater drains being de-silting. To facilitate more such audits, the Arappor Iyakkam has formed chapters through which residents, along with the members, survey areas and put forth their suggestions to the civic body.
Street lights installed after audit
In November 2010, Prajnya, a city-based NGO, conducted a women’s safety audit of Besant Nagar as a pilot project. Women residents of Besant Nagar were guided to carry out the audit. Street lights, pavements, shops and presence of roadside hawkers were factored in, while executing the audit. The team interviewed several residents. Lack of sufficient illumination — caused by lack of street lights on some stretches and poorly-lit ones in others — was one of the primary findings of the audit. A few days after submitting the findings to the Corporation, the street lights were fixed and more street lights were set up. Prajnya recently carried out another safety audit in association with the students of Women’s Christian College, in Egmore, Nungambakkam and Mount Road. The team is awaiting the final report of the findings to be submitted to the officials concerned.
