RailEnquiry

NEW DELHI: On September 24, a group of women walked from the Hauz Khas Metro station to the office of deputy commissioner of police (south) Chhaya Sharma. On the way they passed a Metro parking lot, a park, markets, subway and a bus terminal.This was certainly not a leisurely stroll. These women were trying to assess how safe this busy and much-used stretch was for Delhi women. The findings from the audit, from 5pm to 7pm, are far from encouraging. Poor streetlighting, inadequate policing, lack of public toilets for women and rundown pavements speak volumes about the difficult realities women have to negotiate.On November 17, another group of women stepped out of their homes after 7pm and surveyed the route from Nehru Place Metro station to Sarita Vihar Metro station till after 9pm. Several women were seen at the Metro at 7pm, but the number came down to one or two by around 10pm. While security men were present inside the station, none was spotted at the exit or entry of the Metro station to keep off suspicious elements.The area around Sarita Vihar Metro station was poorly lit and the lone public toilet for women at Nehru Place Metro station was under construction. There were no telephone booths or emergency services along the stretch. The safety audits, carried out by NGO Jagori in collaboration with UN Women, are part of the "Safe Delhi Campaign". The findings of the six safety audits organized over the last few months show that urban planning and implementation of schemes and guidelines have fallen short of expectations. "We have submitted the audit findings compiled over the last 10 days to the Delhi government's women and child development department," said Kalpana Viswanath from Jagori.

While the Hauz Khas audit brings to the fore the fears of students and working women heading home after their classes and work between 5pm and 7pm, the second one is a night audit that reviews the security arrangements around and between the Metro stations of Nehru Place and Sarita Vihar - rated as a busy stretch. The third audit tracks a school route at Badarpur in the afternoon where no PCR van was cited and no police presence was visible.

The audit exercise also tracks the problems of women living in slums and colonies home to low income group families. Two audits were carried out to cover the low income and poor families living in the slum clusters in Molarband area and clusters located in the midst of upper middle and affluent neighbourhoods of Malviya Nagar. Mehrauli bus terminal to Mehrauli market a lifeline route was also part of the audit.