CHENNAI: Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai, has kickstarted installation of panic buttons in 500 buses to improve safety of women passengers. The project is using funds from the Nirbhaya corpus.
The safety device, armed with cameras, is being installed in buses along routes connecting colleges and areas where women patronage is higher. This includes routes such as 25 (Anna Square-Poonamallee), 76V (Koyambedu-Siruseri) and 70V (Perungalathur-Koyambedu). Shortly, the project will be expanded to all 2,800 MTC buses of the city.
A senior MTC official explained that once the panic button is pressed, an alert is passed to the command and control centre at MTC headquarters on Pallavan Salai. Since these buses are fitted with CCTV cameras, a team deployed at the centre will be able to monitor live video feeds and pass on the alert to police helpline (100) so that the nearest patrol vehicle can reach the spot in no time.
“Though there are several mobile apps for safety purpose, the response time is very high and there is a possibility of the offender escaping from the spot before the alert reaches the authorities concerned. We hope there is a swift response in this case (panic button system),” said V Anjali, a regular MTC user.
K Anbalagan, a transportation activist, said that apart from safety of women, the new device will help in locating the person who is at fault in clashes involving bus conductors and passengers.
On the road ahead, the activist said MTC has to create awareness about the panic buttons because some have started pressing it out of curiosity and too many false alerts in the initial phase is not good for any effective surveillance system.
