‘No system in place for safety of Delhi Metro users’

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Tuesday lambasted the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for not putting in place systems to ensure the safety of commuters, especially women and children, during travel. 

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Najmi Waziri asked the DMRC, when its officials failed to answer queries, on what mechanisms it had set up for passengers, particularly women, seeking assistance.

The officials, including the DMRC executive director (operations), could not answer what measures had been taken against men who entered coaches reserved for women, and whether the moves had acted as a deterrent.

“Since you are unable to answer our queries straight away it appears there are no systems in place for the safety of women, aged and infirm and children,” the bench said.

“Are we completely dehumanised? We might be better off with artificial intelligence,” it said, after the court was told that one of the DMRC station controllers was not trained to address situations related to the safety of passengers, but was still holding the job. “The fact that he is still on the job shows the level of concern you (DMRC) have for security and safety of passengers. Is this a joke to you,” it said. 

The court said the DMRC was “putting the lives of citizens at stake by allowing this person to continue on the job”. “Nearly 30 lakh commuters, would travel at the mercy of this station controller. It is a peril. We are truly horrified. Please understand the ramifications,” it said.

It directed the DMRC, police, CISF and the Transport department to work in tandem to ensure all areas of passenger safety and security were covered. It also suggested putting CCTV cameras and giving live video feed in all the coaches to keep track of any passenger distress as well as flashing of pictures of missing persons on screens at the entry/exit gates immediately after information on such an incident was received.

The court’s strong observations came while hearing a habeas corpus plea initiated by it based on a news report that a 19-year-old woman with a speech and hearing impairment had gone missing on April 21 after getting separated from her family and alighting at the wrong metro station.