CHENNAI: Soon women in the city will be able to instantly report harassment they face on the streets through the 667 ‘smart poles’ that the city Corporation plans to install in vulnerable areas that have been identified by the police department. While 617 poles will be funded by the Nirbhaya Funds allocated to Chennai, 50 poles will be funded by the Smart City Project.
These ‘smart poles’, which cost around Rs10 lakh each, will have an emergency call box, public address system, cameras and a distress button which will be connected to the central command centre. “In emergency cases, officials manning the command centre can alert the public through the public address system and ensure there is intervention,” said a top Corporation official.
All 35 women’s police stations in the city will receive a new vehicle to respond to these distress calls.
“The idea is to reduce the response time. Reduced response times, while benefiting the victim, will also act as a crime deterrent,” said the Corporation official.
In addition to providing an option of instantly reporting harassment on the streets, women will also be able to report harassment on buses and cabs. The Chennai Corporation, in coordination with the transport commissioner, will fit surveillance cameras and panic buttons in 500 high-frequency buses in the city at a cost of around Rs 73 crore.
The emergency services app, which will be rolled out in a year’s time, will use RFID and GIS technology to alert the user about crime-prone areas in the city and the driver’s background. On boarding a cab, the particulars about the driver and the ride details will be sent to the user’s selected emergency contacts. “In the first phase, we will enroll 50,000 cabs and auto rickshaws with the help of the transport department,” said the official.
As part of this pan-city project to make the city safer for women, the Corporation is also planning to install 500 ‘she’ toilets to ensure women can relieve themselves in a safe place.