Jitendra Gaglani, Thiruvanmiyur.
The recent initiative by the Chennai Police Department to deploy the Pink Squad in Chennai Metro is praiseworthy. It ensures peace of mind for women travellers. However, there are issues of pressing concern in MTC buses that call for similar preventive steps.
‘It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent.’ – Ezra Taft Benson First things first. The MTC is plagued by a serious shortfall of buses with a dismal 3,500 buses catering to this megacity of over 1.2 crore people as against the requirement of 7,000. Adding to the woe of overcrowding of buses is their dismal frequency. Buses carry over 160 passengers during peak hours in stark contrast to their capacity of 70-83 passengers. Some women passengers opine that life was easier when they were charged for bus tickets. At least, then, the frequency of whiteboard buses was better.
Secondly, initiatives such as ‘Neenga Road Raja Va?’ or possibly, ‘Neenga Bus Badshah Va?’ or ‘Neenga Train Thillalangadi Va?’ are nice to hear but they also come with their fair share of drawbacks. Snitching on offenders to the law enforcement department only adds to the onus on honest citizens besides, it shows them in a bad light. The offender thus booked ends up not only paying a fine but also holding a grudge against the reporter. Why sow the seed of discord in a peace-loving city like Chennai? If the system is properly monitored remotely, law-abiding citizens would act less as sleuths and focus more on earning their daily bread.
London perfectly exemplifies the effortlessness of automated monitoring vis-à-vis onerous physical monitoring.
Quick fact: Research by Clarion Security Systems estimates that there are over 942,562 CCTV Cameras in London, meaning there is 1 CCTV camera for every 10 people in the capital. You are likely to be captured on London CCTV up to 70 times per day. (2022)
Practical solutions:
- Expand bus fleet: The department would do well to procure new buses, especially whiteboard, to make the ride comfortable for women travellers.
- Perception and attitude makeover: Increase the frequency of buses to such an extent, say one bus for every 5 minutes, that MTC becomes the most sought-after mode of transport for intra-city travel. If India can reverse the brain drain, Chennai can very well reverse the shift from public to private transport. People would be tempted to give up their two-wheelers and cars in favour of MTC buses.
- Lathi as potent as Khakhi: Deploy Pink Squad in every bus and every bus stop to make the trip safer. The mere sight of lathi would deter miscreants from perpetrating eve-teasing and molestation.
By taking the aforementioned initiatives, Chennai would, in every sense, be known as the Safesty City in India.
