Delhi to pull out all stops to make bus shelters safe for women
The Transnport department is awaiting the revocation of the Model Code of Conduct, following which it is set to float a tender to start improvement work on nearly 500 more bus shelters as part of its development plan.
In a bid to make the Capital safer for women, the Delhi government's transport department is pulling out all stops to ensure that the bus shelters are made safer and more accessible to Delhiites.
While bus shelters are reportedly known to be extremely unsafe not just for women, but for commuters in general, people now have the ease of immediately tipping off the authorities at the transport department's helpline, following which they are given instant feedback on the matter.
The department had launched a helpline along with an SMS service for commuters, wherein people could lodge a complaint directly with the authorities regarding bus shelters that were poorly lit.
Having learnt a lesson from the December 16 gang rape case, wherein the 23- year- old victim boarded a private bus along with her friend from one such bus shelter in Saket, the department is not leaving anything to chance and is taking every possible precautionary measure.
"There are bus shelters that are poorly- lit and people are susceptible to crime there. We are attempting to make them safe. In addition to that, we are also taking note of bus shelters which have been vandalised and where flexes have been torn. This causes significant problems for advertisers and we are trying to ensure that this kind of loss is minimised," said a senior Delhi government official.
Officials also added that the department was awaiting the revocation of the Model Code of Conduct, following which it is set to float a tender to start improvement work on nearly 500 more bus shelters as part of its development plan.
However, authorities also added that they were waiting for the response to pick up pace in the upcoming weeks.
" We used to receive around 10 calls and SMSes on daily basis on the helpline number. We are hoping that this response would increase in the coming days. We will be able to identify the problem at bus shelters only when people bring it to our notice. After the complaint is lodged and officials take cognisance, action will immediately be initiated. We have instructed staff manning the helpline to take in complaints of any nature pertaining to bus shelters as of now," the official added.