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CCTV, panic buttons in all Delhi buses soon, promises CM Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi
New Delhi
All public buses in Delhi will soon have CCTV cameras, panic buttons and a GPS-based automatic vehicle location system, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Kejriwal said his government will launch a command centre for the programme and they are working towards developing a mobile application with which commuters waiting for buses would be able to see estimated arrival time and location of buses on routes passing through the concerned bus stops and bus stands.
At the same time, the chief minister added, the government will start working towards setting up passenger information system (PIS) — that are electronic display boards that inform about bus timings — at all major bus stands in the city.
“This initiative is aimed at women safety. We had planned this a long time ago, but the plan did not materialise after tenders failed on three occasions. This time we had a bidder. The work order has been approved by the cabinet today [Thursday],” said the chief minister.
He further said, “By December end, we will start the project on a batch of 100 buses. It is expected to be fully functional in another seven months.”
The deadlines for the PIS and the mobile applications are yet to be announced.
Delhi currently has a fleet of around 5,500 buses against the sanctioned fleet size of 11,000 buses. Under the plan, each bus will have three CCTV cameras and 10 panic buttons, capable of sending distress signals to the command centre, which will be linked with the police control room.
The government will set aside Rs 150 crore for the project, said Kejriwal.
NIRBHAYA FUND
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had earlier told HT that the Delhi government will implement the project on its own as it did not receive any money from the Nirbhaya fund, which is disbursed by the Centre. The Nirbhaya fund was set up in the aftermath of protests, following the December 2016 gangrape in Delhi.
But, earlier this week, the Union ministry of women and child development said that the centre had sanctioned Rs 390 crore from the Nirbhaya fund to Delhi so far, out of which only Rs 19 crore had been spent.
Reacting to that, Kejriwal initially said, “We did not receive that money.”
He later elaborated saying, “We did receive Rs 65 crore from the fund earlier this year for setting up one-stop centres for rape survivors. We have utilised that money. We asked for funds for the scheme on CCTV in buses, but did not get that.”
Earlier this year, around 200 buses had been inducted in Delhi’s fleet. The new buses, Kejriwal said, have CCTV cameras, panic buttons and the GPS-system installed. The old ones too will have those features under the scheme.
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