Is Central Delhi, home to rich and famous, safe for women? Audit to find out

When it comes to unsafe spots in the capital, even the posh Central Delhi is not an exception which is why the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has roped in Safetipin, an application for auditing public spaces.

The audit will be conducted to find the ‘safety perception’ in the 1,483-square kilometre-wide NDMC area and its results would be shared in February. An initial assessment has revealed that several stretches in Lutyens’ Delhi continue to be “unsafe”. These include Man Singh road, Pandara road, Ridge road, Vakeel Lane, Fire Brigade Lane among at least 30 other stretches.

Surprisingly, the civic agency in its documents submitted for its Smart City project claims that the NDMC area has been made ‘Dark Spot Free’ during 2012-15. Delhi as a whole has as many as 7,483 dark spots which the government plans to light by March next year. The Public Works Department (PWD) is implementing the project in rest of the capital.

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“The aim is to make the area safe for women. A few dark spots are there in our area and we want to plug all possible loopholes under our jurisdiction. So, barring law and order which is under the Delhi police, we will improve upon all the aspects pointed by Safetipin,” said Chanchal Yadav, Secretary, NDMC.

Besides, the audit won’t be restricted to just finding the dark spots in New Delhi area. “Our safety audit measures nine parameters, including lighting, state of footpaths, the presence of people, specifically women, on the streets, the availability of police, public transport and ‘eyes on the street’ or visibility of a woman in public spaces,” said Kalpana Viswanath, co-founder of Safetipin.

So far, the NDMC has installed 310 CCTV surveillance cameras at all its major markets including Connaught Place and Khan Market. Additional 700 such cameras have been installed at 72 residential colonies in the year 2015.

“Since NDMC area is going to be a Smart City, safety of women is a priority. We are formulating appropriate solutions in collaboration with the Delhi Police and other stakeholders responsible for safety and security that integrates with our hierarchical Command and Control system,” an NDMC official said.