Cops to track your auto ride via QR code Install CCTVS at all police stations, vulnerable public spots: High court
SAFE RIDE Just like the cabtracking service at Delhi airport, commuters will soon be able to get the police to track their auto ride from 10 Metro stations as part of a pilot project
THE QR CODE WILL ENABLE COMMUTERS TO RELAY THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTO AND THEIR REALTIME LOCATION TO THE POLICE
NEWDELHI: Buoyed by the positive response to its project to track cab rides via a quick response (QR) code at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi Police has decided to replicate it at 10 Metro stations by December end.
At the Delhi airport, cabs are provided with a QR code, which passengers can scan using Delhi Police’s Himmat mobile phone application to inform the cops about their journey.
Along similar lines, commuters taking an auto-rickshaw to cover the last-mile distance after a Metro ride will soon be able to get the police to track their journey. The code will enable them to relay the information about the auto drivers and their real-time location to the police.
The tracking system will run on the Himmat app. Commuters without smartphones can send a text message to the police. The numbers will then be displayed in the autorickshaw.
The stations selected for the pilot project are Raja Garden, Nehru Place, Malviya Nagar, Hauz Khas, Vishwavidyalaya, Indraprastha, Kashmere Gate, Qutub Minar, Netaji Subhash Place and Shastri Park.
The police have begun the extensive exercise of collecting data of drivers around these 10 stations since one auto is operated by many persons.
The auto drivers, who normally drive around the Metro stations, will have to display the QR code provided by the police at the back of the driver’s seat.
“All the passenger has to do is scan the QR code after boarding the auto. The details will reach the control room and the GPS will start tracking the auto. During the ride, if the passenger feels something’s wrong, he/she can press the SOS button and the nearest police control room will be pressed into action,” said Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police at Delhi Airport.
“We will send two to three text messages to the passenger to know if they are safe. If possible, we may even get our personnel to call the passenger at the end of the journey,” said Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police at the Delhi Airport.
The trial at the Delhi’s airport began on October 6 with police placing QR codes in 10 black and yellow taxis. Besides the code, a card pasted behind the driver’s seat carries his photograph, his address, phone number, registration and details of the owner.
Women who used the service were asked to rate the service between excellent and poor. “Ninety four per cent rated it between excellent and good. We are taking suggestions from those who did not like the service. The form had specific questions on the quality of the service. Happy with the response at the airport, especially from women, we will implement it at 10 Metro stations to start with,” said Bhatia.
The police asked the passengers a series of questions: “Are the details of driver/ owner adequate? Could you download the photograph of driver? Was the SMS service working properly? Should this service be extended to the auto and taxis of Delhi? Do you have Himmat app on your phone?”
Fifty per cent said they had the Himmat app and all of them wanted the service to be extended to the Metro stations. NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court said on Thursday that all 192 police stations in the national capital and vulnerable public areas in the capital should have CCTV cameras.
A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sanjeev Sachdeva directed the Delhi Police and the city government to file affidavits before November 16 indicating the timeline for installing the cameras. It told the police that in those stations where CCTVS were installed years ago, the cameras should be upgraded.
Taking note of recent reports of incidents of rapes of minors, the bench told the agency to look into prevention of such crimes as well as expediting prosecution in such cases by setting up a special task force for the purpose.
The directions and observations of the court came while hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the December 16, 2012, gang rape case.
Advocate Meera Bhatia, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the case, said CCTV issue has been delayed as both the government and police have not done anything about it. The bench also issued directions to expedite testing of forensic samples. It laid emphasis on older cases, especially biological samples and those that may be corrupted by passage of time, being taken up first for testing.
The court also expressed displeasure over the Central government not arriving at a decision on whether to sanction around 14,000 more police personnel for the city with the issue pending before the finance ministry since July 2015 after the home ministry cleared it. “It is like snakes and ladders. Same orders are being passed again and again (by the court). We do not want the citizens to get lost in the logjam,” the court said.