Govt to set up central room to respond to panic alarms of buses

NEW DELHI: After the new buses hit the road from the next month, the Delhi government is also planning a central monitoring room for these buses as each of these new buses will have panic buttons for women. From the central control room, the officials will respond to the siren which will ring for four seconds after a panic button is pressed.

The sources in the Delhi government said the Chief Secretary took a meeting with the Transport Department and also with the Home Department in order to decide on the matter.

"Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after the Lok Sabha election directed all the department to end the pending works by 2020, thereafter the meeting was held in priority. The new buses will start to come from the next month. These buses will have a panic button and also GPS," said an official.

The transport department recently opened bids to run low-floor buses on three different routes and shortlisted companies on the basis of their technical and financial capabilities and rates offered. The department will soon put up the details for the consideration of Delhi Cabinet and, once approved, the agreement will be signed with the private players.

The number of DTC's operational buses was 3,974 in 2017-18. The target was to raise it to 4,176 in 2018-19, but it remained stagnant 3,897. The average daily ridership of the public transporter improved slightly as it stood at 33 lakh as against a target of 32.93 lakh in 2018-19. It is targeted to be raised to 33.50 lakh in 2019-20. But, the average fleet utilisation dipped from targeted 87% to 84.63 % in 2018-19. The target for 2019-20 is 90% fleet utilisation. The operating cost per km of DTC buses in 2018-19 was targeted at Rs 88 but it stood at Rs 97.12. The corporation would try to bring it down to Rs 95.99 per km in 2019-20.

Meanwhile, sources claimed that the meeting was held on January 15 under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary (Home), GNCT of Delhi. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Delhi Police, Delhi Government and other important persons. "Principal Secretary (Home) sought details about the action taken on the installation of GPS, CCTV and a panic button in all DTC, cluster buses and private carriages," sources added.

Sources further disclosed that Special Commissioner (Transport) informed that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has notified that all public transport vehicles will mandatorily have panic buttons before they are registered. An official said that the tender has been issued for the installation of panic buttons in existing buses.