A survey and an audit conducted by SafetiPin, a Gurgaon based organisation, reveals that Gurgaon scored very low on nine parameters which are crucial for women safety. SafetiPin is a social enterprise that provides technology solutions to make cities safer for women.
According to the survey, more than 1,200 spots of the city were identified as unsafe for women and Golf Course Road is among the most unsafe places in Gurgaon. The overall safety score of Gurgaon is 1.8 out of 5. Old Gurgaon area was also found to be extremely unsafe than the new Gurgaon. Kalpana Vishwanath of SafetiPin said the data studies the infrastructure and social usages of space in the city and how it impacts the safety of citizens. “The motive behind this survey was to inform people about the safe and unsafe locations so they can choose their residence and other activities accordingly. Before going to a restaurant and book a hotel people can check the safety score,” said Vishwanath. She said the safety score was given to an area on the basis of lighting, presence of people and activities on the road like shops and movement of people.
Isolated and dark roads are mostly unsafe. Vishwanath said areas like sector 10, sector 23, sector 29 and DLF Phase 3 are among most unsafe areas of the city. Even crowded areas like IFFCO Chowk, Leisure Valley Road, DLF Phase 3, Chakkarpur-Saraswati Vihar junction and Subhash Chowk Road are particularly short of street lights. Areas with mixed-land use in the city and parts of Old Gurgaon are rated safer by women commuters, due to good lighting and higher public presence on roads. Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon T L Satyaprakash also raised some concerns over the issue “We are working on improving the illumination and other safety features on these stretches,” he said.
“Most of the city streets are dark at night and there is no proper public transport facility, which makes life difficult for women. We never feel safe on street, authorities should take steps to make city more safe for us,” said Mansi Yadav, a sales manager with an IT firm.