Initial enquiries, aimed at gauging how women-friendly the railway stations are, have found that women travelling from far-off suburbs beyond Kalyan claimed that there is little police presence outside these stations.
The report initiated by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) was mainly to check passenger-related amenities specifically for women, like toilets and seat-benches on the platform where the ladies’ compartments are positioned when the trains halt. The survey has, however, thrown up a lot other unexpected responses as well. “Some of the women that travel to stations that are in far off suburbs like Ambivali, Badlapur, Karjat and Kasara have said that most of the times the trains and the platforms are satisfactorily manned by the police but a lot of times, there is hardly any policeman visible after they step out of the station and so safety becomes a concern there,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
According to the women who responded to the report, they feel that police presence outside the station and on platforms late in the evening should be increased as many unsocial activities happen there. “The women are particularly scared of drug users who are known to consume drugs outside the station and feel the junkies could possibly attack them. They also feel that these people in particular should be removed from around the station,” added another official.
The MRVC has commissioned two surveys — one for the women-friendly station and the other to track the growing number of commuters on Mumbai suburban since the last survey was conducted almost 15 years ago. “The survey is being conducted particularly as the World Bank has asked us to make the system more friendly for women,” said another official on the condition of anonymity.
The official report for both the studies is likely to come out by the end of this month.
