Delhi Police set to launch 'track me' facility in HIMMAT app

NEW DELHI: Taking one more step to ensure security of women, especially the ones travelling in the late hours, Delhi Police is about to launch a facility named "track me" in its existing SOS application HIMMAT.

Under "track me" facility, the commuters shall be given three time slots to choose from and the GPS tracking shall continue for the selected period, said an official in Delhi Police's Operations wing.

If the commuter doesn't reach the destination within the selected time slot, the option can be re-selected and the tracking shall continue. If re-selection is not opted for, the process - monitored by the police control room - shall stop automatically, said the official.

The HIMMAT application was linked to a GPS tracking system - used to locate the origin of the SOS alert - since the time it was conceptualised.

"But with the new addition to the system, the police control room can conveniently locate the person in distress, even as the position keeps changing," said the official.

The facility has been developed and it is presently put on trial mode, with around eight officials in the Operations department using it.

Under trial mode, the three time slots available are - 10 minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes.

Changes in the facility will be incorporated based on the shortfalls experienced during this phase, which shall continue for at least a month before "track me" is launched, said Special Commissioner of Police (Operations) Sundari Nanda.

Nanda said the facility was developed keeping in mind the security of working women who work in odd shifts and women commuters who travel to and from the airport, railway stations and bus terminals in odd hours.

If any untoward incident happens during the travel period, the SOS alert would reach the control room and also the close pre-selected group in HIMMAT, said the official.

The women safety application named HIMMAT was launched by Delhi Police on January 1 this year. Initially it was available for download only on Android phones, but in six months it was made available for all platforms.

With the addition of "track me" facility, the department has also decided to simplify the registration process for HIMMAT-app.

Soon, one will be able to register with the application with name and only two to three other mandatory fields, the official added.