Government to make CCTV cameras mandatory in public transport

NEW DELHI: In a move to ensure safety of women passengers, the government will soon make it mandatory for public transport vehicles to have CCTV cameras and emergency buttons. The road transport and highways ministry has issued draft rules for the same under motor vehicles act and has sought comments from stakeholders including vehicle manufacturers.

Transport vehicles with a seating capacity of over 23 passengers excluding drivers will mandatorily have CCTV cameras that will be connected with global positioning system and GPRS and will be monitored by the local police control room. Such vehicles will also have a panic button.

For transport vehicles that have seating capacity of less than 23 people will have emergency buttons that will be connected to local police station.

If the panic button is triggered, the CCTV cameras will start displaying live footage of the bus at the central control room and if a vehicle deviates from its prescribed route (monitored through the GPS devices), the system will be triggered to send signals to the control centre.

"All these facilities will be made available in the buses either by the manufacturer or the operators and local police will work with vehicle manufacturers to set up surveillance facilities in their districts," a senior transport ministry official said.