After a Delhi resident’s campaign highlighting women’s safety issues around metro stations went viral, PWD Minister Satyendra Jain on Wednesday committed the government to light up the dark spots within a kilometre’s radius of all metro stations.
City-based architect, Bhavya Singh had started the #LightUpDelhi petition on Change.org after she was harassed by a group of men in a dark spot right outside the Nehru Place metro station in March 2017.
In response to Bhavya’s petition, the minister said that the Delhi government has always taken women’s safety as a top priority and will light up Delhi in a time-bound manner.
“I have taken note of Bhavya Singh’s campaign regarding the dark spots around metro stations in Delhi. It is very unfortunate that she was made to feel threatened and unsafe near a metro station only because there was no light. I want to assure you that the issue of women’s safety remains a top priority for our government,” Jain said.
He said that the government will commission a fresh survey for lighting, with a special focus on dark spots around metro stations.
“To make you all feel safer while travelling by the Delhi Metro, my ministry will speed up the process of lighting up all the dark spots identified within a one-kilometre radius of metro stations in the first survey.
“We will review the status of dark spots that were identified and ensure100 per cent lighting of all remaining dark spots that were not covered in a previous survey,” he said.
After meeting the Minister, Singh said: “I am grateful to everyone who supported my petition to eliminate dark spots near metro stations in Delhi. The government’s positive response gives me hope that women, children and also men will now feel safer during their commutes even late at night.”
Meanwhile, Nida Hasan, Campaigns Director, Change.org India said: “We are very excited to have the PWD Minister of Delhi as a verified decision maker on Change.org. This means that people of Delhi can address their petitions directly to the minister.”