Project to make Delhi buses safe for women yet to take off

Even though the 1,679 cluster buses, which replaced Blue Line, are equipped with GPS, none of the 3,882 DTC buses have tracking devices installed.

From CCTV cameras to GPS trackers and marshals, the Delhi government’s attempts at making public buses safe for passengers, especially women, have failed to take off.

From CCTV cameras to GPS trackers and marshals, the Delhi government’s attempts at making public buses safe for passengers, especially women, have failed to take off. (HT File Photo)

In June last year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government approved a proposal to install CCTV cameras in 6,350 Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses. The project was cleared by the Cabinet even though Delhi’s current bus fleet stands at 5,561.

But more than a year later, the project largely remains only on paper.

According to officials in the transport department, installing both – CCTV cameras and GPS devices — on buses would not be completed for at least another six months.

The reason for the delay, officials said, was because the transport department was asked by the Cabinet to explore the option of offering Wi-Fi service along with cameras and GPS trackers. It was only this month that the department concluded that adding Wi-Fi service under the same project was not feasible.

The project, which is estimated to cost around ?140 crore, would be funded by the Central government’s ‘Nirbhaya Fund’. As a pilot project, the DTC has already installed CCTV cameras in 200 buses.

“We have already appointed a consultant for the project. However, the tender to award the work is yet to be floated because I had sought some modifications with regard to storage of the CCTV footage. It will be done by end of this month,” said state transport minister Kailash Gahlot.

Installing GPS

The project to install GPS in buses was launched as far back as 2010 after a series of accidents involving erstwhile Blue Line grabbed headlines.

Even though the 1,679 cluster buses, which replaced Blue Line, are equipped with GPS, none of the 3,882 DTC buses have tracking devices installed.

“Now, both the CCTV cameras and GPS trackers will be fitted in all buses simultaneously by March 2019 by the same company,” another official said.

Bus Marshals

Providing marshals in buses for safety of public, especially women, was one of AAP’s main poll promises during the 2015 assembly elections. However, against the need of 5,561 marshals, only about 1,100 are currently deployed in DTC buses.

“As there are not enough marshals for all buses, we deploy them on rotation. Most are deployed in the evening and late night. A tender for 400 security guard-cum-marshals for 200 buses was floated in 2016, but the response was not good,” a DTC official said.

Meanwhile, 1,679 cluster buses are yet to get a single marshal. “Cluster buses were never included in the government’s scheme of providing marshals,” said an official of the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited, which operates the service.

According to data provided by DTC, there was a time when there were as many as 2,980 marshals in buses in 2016. But, the number has been on a steady decline. “This is because majority of the marshals were called back by the Home Guard for duty during the municipal corporation elections in April,” a DTC official said.