CHENNAI: To improve the safety of passengers, especially women, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) recently installed panic buttons in 500 buses. However, the drivers, conductors and passengers that TNIE spoke to have no idea how the buttons work and what happens if someone presses them.
“We were told that if the blue light comes on in the box behind the driver’s seat, the button is working. We are not sure why it is kept there,” said a conductor of a bus operated from Thiruporur to Kelambakkam, which was parked at the Broadway bus terminus.
The other drivers and conductors had a similar response. When asked if they were told what to do if someone is in distress and presses the button, a driver said, “We were only told to ensure that no one presses the button for irrelevant issues. In case the button is pressed, we have no role to play and the head office will take care of the issue.”
In T Nagar, a driver said nearly 15 buses in the depot have the buttons. “While there was a brief sound on pressing the button in most of the buses, the noise was absent in some of the vehicles. I am not sure if that means the feature is not working in those buses. In case there is an altercation between the staff and passengers, the cameras fitted in the bus will be used to identify who was at fault,” he said.
Meanwhile, the public, especially women, were also oblivious to the new feature. “I noticed it in a few buses but am not sure why it has been installed. I don’t follow the news regularly,” said S Priscilla, a student who takes the bus to reach her college daily.
S Lakshmi, a daily wage labourer at the T Nagar bus depot, said she was curious and asked a conductor about it. “He only cautioned me not to use it. Probably, it should only be used during emergencies,” she said. Senior MTC officials said they have sent a circular to the staff regarding the usage of panic buttons and advised them to alert the control room if police or medical help is needed. “Most of the alerts we get now are false alarms. We check the videos from cameras kept inside the buses and don’t react if it is a false alarm. If awareness is a problem, it will be addressed soon,” said an official.