People are unaware of panic alarm buttons in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses; a High Court directive to install announcement system in buses for the visually impaired couldn’t make its way out of the pipeline stage.
Most passengers are unaware of the panic alarm buttons in BMTC buses.
Shanthi, a regular bus commuter said that she hasn’t used the button and has not seen anyone using it. She added that it’s a great effort on the part of the government to take such measures to ensure the safety of women as a lot of working women travel in the bus late at night as well and such a system can be very helpful for their safety.
Ranjeeth, a BMTC conductor explained that when someone presses the button, a complaint goes to the police and a police van will come to the spot to see what the matter is. The button is for women’s safety during their travel, he said.
Sunitha, Public Relations Officer at BMTC said that no genuine cases of using the buttons have been reported so far, however, people did use the button in the beginning just to try and see what happens after that.The panic alarm buttons was first introduced in 2018 in 150 buses. In 2023, Transport Minister, Ramalinga Reddy said that the alarm buttons will be installed in 5,000 buses. Currently, more than 5,000 buses under BMTC have panic alarm buttons, Sunitha said.
Prof. M.N. Sreehari, Advisor to the government of Karnataka for traffic, transportation, and infrastructure, said that installing panic buttons in BMTC buses is a great step towards women’s safety. He added that the government should make an effort to create awareness among women about the use of this button because a lot of women don’t know that any such thing exists.
Announcement system
According to news reports, BMTC in 2023 told the Karnataka High Court that 58 percent of its buses have announcement systems for visually impaired passengers but the ground reality seems to be different.
Sunitha said that none of the buses has the announcement system and the project is in the pipeline. She said that since the Model Code of Conduct is in place, the decision on the matter can’t be taken.
Shiva, a visually impaired person who commutes using BMTC buses said that some buses don’t have provision of announcement and that he has to rely on co-passengers or the conductor to know when his stop has come. He said that it would have been easier if there was an announcement system in all the buses to know which is the next stop, just the way it is in the metro.
Prof. Sreehari said that installing announcements in BMTC buses is not an easy task as BMTC sends different buses on different routes based on requirements. It is practically hard to record bus stop announcements for each bus because one bus can go on different routes on different days, he explained. He added that though the task is difficult, a solution should be made to have an announcement system for the good of the visually impaired. He suggested that it could be done by adding more buses to the BMTC fleet and ensuring that one bus goes on the same route daily.
