If any reminder was needed that cyber city Bengaluru, with the fifth highest crime rate in the country, remains unsafe, the murder of the diamond merchant from Andhra Pradesh by his taxi driver and his accomplices on Wednesday, provided it.
For young girls working late, depending on taxi services has never been comfortable since the brutal murder and rape of BPO employee Pratibha Srikantamurthy seven years ago. Whether they are ordinary working women or senior women police officers, they all agree that travelling alone in Bengaluru is unsafe and should be avoided, particularly at night.
“Bengaluru is far from being safe for women. It is never advisable to travel alone at night here,” says civic activist Dr Meenakshi Bharat, pointing out that parents of young girls in the city are always worried when they are out alone.
“They advise them to keep their phones switched on and be accessible at all times. They also call incessantly if their daughters happen to be late even by minutes,” she notes.
Some are angry that although the city police and transport department had promised after the Pratibha muder that steps would be taken to make the city safer for women and the public in general, years have gone by and travelling after dark in Bengaluru remains as risky as ever.
“Every time I travel alone in the city by cab or autorickshaw, there is this lingering fear about my safety. I am always on my guard. It is not a good feeling, but what else can we do,” asks Leron Jacob, a travel photographer.
“Women should never travel alone at night,” agrees Bengaluru South DCP, Sonia Narang, adding, “Either they should be accompanied by their relatives or travel with people they know very well. When returning from work, they should make sure they know the driver and that the cab they are riding in is registered.”
She also suggests that women should keep in constant touch with their families when travelling alone by taxis and carry the phone number of the police control room so that they can call it should the need arise - Sound advice for a lot of other people too, especially if they happen to be carrying valuables. After all, it pays to be safe than sorry.
Cops for GPS tracking
To make travel in the over 45,000 taxis operating in Bengaluru safe, the city traffic police has suggested that they be fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) that will allow the authorities to keep track of them at all times.
“We wrote to the transport department a few months ago to make it mandatory for all city cabs to install a GPS system which will allow it to monitor them wherever they go. Currently, only a few city taxi services have the system in place,” says additional commissioner of police (traffic) M. A. Saleem.
The proposal pending with the transport department obviously needs urgent attention now with the murder of diamond merchant Manoj Kumar Grandhi, who did not think he was any danger when he merely hired a taxi to take him to the airport.
The incident has left a lot of people who use taxi services frequently, quite shaken. They are looking to the authorities now to do the needful and make their travel safe.
“A lot of people travel to Bengaluru on business. A person who is new to the city likes to travel by cabs as it provides a more convenient way of getting around. But when such incidents take place, they are bound to feel unsafe taking a taxi and this can hurt the reputation of the city. The state government must bring in a policy for taxi operators which will force them to make their services more safe,” says a software professional, Sudhir Nayak.
Traffic expert, M.N. Sreehari
The authorities must make sure that all cabs are fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) so that we don't see such a murder in the city again. While the instrument can track the movement of a vehicle, a good mapping system is needed for efficient use of the GPS.
The problem in Bengaluru is that every other day a new road is added to the city and names of roads and areas are changed with regularity. As the GPS only recognises those places which are marked on a map, the authorities must first update the city’s map to help them keep better track of vehicles that install it.
Most modern vehicles now come with an inbuilt GPS and so it's only the older vehicles which need to be fitted with it.
Also a system must be put in place to connect the GPS to a government server which will allow officials to make sure that drivers are taking the easiest, safest and most efficient routes possible. This is the only way to ensure that passengers travelling by these vehicles remain safe.
All of us cannot be monitored: Driver
Every day, on an average, about 15,000 taxis make about 45,000 trips to Bengaluru International Airport. Of them, only 3,000 are registered with the BIA while a majority of taxis are affiliated to travel agencies, hotels and private cab services.
Sources at BIA said three major cab operators, Meru, Easy Cabs and KSTDC, operate taxis at the airport and a large numbers of private taxis also ply there. “We have CCTVs and we can monitor a driver in case of suspicion. Otherwise, we cannot keep record of every cab driver who enters the airport,” said an official.
Several three-star hotels in Majestic area and other places book cabs for airport/railway station pick-up and drop-off. These hotels do not bother to check the credentials of taxi driver/owner, admits a cab driver.
“There are several single taxis which run in Bengaluru. They pick up passengers from anywhere, anytime. We hear about many robbery cases on Ring Road and city outskirts and such crimes are most committed by taxi drivers who are not affiliated to any agency. There are also possibilities where some taxi drivers hire a fellow driver’s car to commit a crime. As long as the driver gets money and petrol he won’t mind lending his car to a fellow driver,” explained a cab driver.
