NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday approved projects worth Rs 2,919 crore under the
Nirbhaya Fund for creating “safe cities” with special focus on women safety in public spaces and quick response systems to create deterrence against crime.
Eight cities where these initiatives will take shape include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Between 2013 and 2017, the corpus of Nirbhaya Fund has grown to Rs 3,100 crore.
Another Rs 500 crore has been set aside for it for 2018-19. The empowered committee of officers also approved user trial of the panic button feature on mobile phones in
Uttar Pradesh that will start sometime later this month. It has also sanctioned setting up of a model forensic science laboratory in Chandigarh.
Plans for safe cities have been prepared in coordination with municipal corporations and police commissionerates of these cities. For instance, in Delhi a project worth Rs 663 crore has been approved to enhance safety of public places like roads, schools and metro stations. The project includes use of latest technology such as video monitoring, facial recognition analytics, and person tracking systems.
Dedicated women safety patrol vans will be added to the existing fleet of the Delhi Police. These vans will be equipped with GPS tracking and on-board video feed sharing. Mumbai has been sanctioned Rs 252 crore to enable GIS mapping of criminal hotspots, video surveillance, training of investigating officers and quick response police teams.
The project will also strengthen “Police Didi” programme wherein female police officers interact with women living in slums. Chennai will receive Rs 425 crore. The project includes creation of safe-zone clusters at hot crime zones, GIS-based crime mapping, security in public transport, capacity building of police authorities as well as a helpdesk service for women.
A cyber crime and legal assistance compensation lab will also be set up. In Ahmedabad, the main components of the proposal include ABHAYAM Vans for quick response to women in distress, One Stop Crisis Centres and ‘She Teams’ of women for surveillance. The project also envisages redevelopment of the
Sabarmati River Front to make it more womenfriendly.
Rs 253 crore has been approved for all this under the Nirbhaya Fund. Kolkata will get Rs 181.32 crore for various schemes, including for strengthening nine women police stations. Bengaluru gets projects Rs 667 crore, which will be utilised for setting up women police outposts and creation of safety islands.
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