Bangalore and Dubai

 There was an article in one of the newspapers, penned by one of the retired top bureaucrats in Karnataka on Dubai, which pondered on whether Bangalore can adopt some of the good urban practices of Dubai. The author is also a well-known and respected expert on urban issues. The article highlighted the well maintained roads, pavements, street cleanliness and safety of the public and women in particular. The point that people can walk on the roads late at night without fear and traffic rule violators are strictly dealt with has been appreciated.

As mentioned in the article,  Dubai is a rich country. Having huge monetary resources,  the rulers have put it to good use for making civic facilities world class. India, as a country,  and its states have many obligations due to the large population and income inequalities. The budgets of the states have to give priority to health, education, food security and other welfare schemes. Therefore it may be difficult to increase substantially the funds for other schemes.

However there are steps that can be taken without significant increase in funding , to improve safety of the citizens, particularly women, in the late hours, in Bangalore city.

1. Proper and bright lighting of the city. It is a common feature to see quite a few roads in complete darkness or having dark patches.  The reasons are many. Electric poles damaged or the fittings not working for days together. Bescom has its system of registering complaints, and they do act but there is a time lag, which sometimes is very long, impacting safety of the road users.

There is also a problem of power interruptions which has nothing to do with availability of power. These interruptions happen even when the state has surplus power. It can then be related only to the glitches in the transmission and distribution systems. 

2. CCTV systems are needed in deserted roads. Bbmp or traffic police could probably instal these, and monitor the back end. 

3. More beat police patrolling identified areas in the night. The presence of police gives a sense of security to those using roads at night, particularly women. If posts are vacant, these should be filled up, and if necessary more posts created. This issue cannot be looked at only from the expenditure point of view.  

4. Road rage incidents are very common. There is verbal abuse, physical abuse,assault etc causing serious injury and sometimes death. In Dubai,  when there is an accident the people wait quietly for the police to arrive. We could at least make an attempt in bangalore by putting out messages where these are allowed,  asking people to immediately call the police and ambulance where required and wait for the police, without harming each other. This can be done by the traffic police and bbmp. Social media and civic organizations can also be made use of. No revolutionary change will happen,  but maybe a small change in thinking may happen. After all, it is small droplets that make the ocean.