BhopalA Safety Analysis Report

This Report has been prepared as part of the Project, ‘Mobile based Safety Audits to collect data onWomen Safety’ undertaken with UN Women. The safety audits were conducted by the volunteersfrom Sangini Gender Resource Centre and WRI India. We are thankful for their partnership in datacollection.

Safetipin, is a map-based mobile phone andonline application, which works to makecommunities and cities safer by providing safetyrelated information collected by users and bytrained auditors.

At the core of the app is the Safety Audit. ASafety Audit is a participatory tool for collectingand assessing information about perceptions ofsafety in public spaces. The audit is based onnine parameters – Lighting, Openness, Visibility,Crowd, Security, Walkpath, Availability of PublicTransport, Gender Diversity and Feeling.

Methodology

The safety audits have been generated using twomethods. First, manual audits were conductedby volunteers from WRI and Sangini organizationusing My Safetipin app. A total of 2599 manualaudits have been conducted.

Secondly, safety audits have been generatedusing the Safetipin Nite app. The assessment wasdone post sunset till 10 pm. ‘My Cab’, local taxisof Bhopal were hired for this purpose. Mobilephones were mounted on the windshield andusing the app photographs of the city roads weretaken. These photographs were then assessedbased on the eight audit parameters to generateaudit pins at each location.

In Bhopal, 180 km of road length was mappedgenerating 4,389 audit pins. Overall, the SafetyScore for Bhopal is rated 2.9/5 i.e. Fair.

BHOPAL

4,389 Audit Pins

180 km covered

Lighting measures the amount of brightness/illumination at a place and ranges from Dark toBright. A place can be lit with street lighting orfrom other sources.

Openness refers to whether a person has a goodline of sight in all directions.

Visibility refers to how visible is one to others. Itis based on the principle of ‘eyes on the street’.This comprises windows-doors of shops, housesalong with street vendors and hawkers.

People indicates the number of people around.This increases as a consequence of usageopportunities.

Security refers to visible security offered eitherby the police or private security guards (forexample along ATM/Bank).

Walkpath indicates whether a person cancomfortably walk at a place. This could refer tothe quality of a pavement or space along a road.

Transport refers to the ease of accessing anymode of public transport i.e.metro/bus/auto/taxi etc. and is measured interms of the distance to the nearest mode.

Gender is about diversity i.e. the percentage ofwomen and children amongst the crowd. Thisincreases as a consequence of safety perception.

16%

13%

15%

15%

41%

Map indicating Safety Score Rating

Safety Score

The Safety Score of a point is a reflection of theperception of safety at that particular location.For each audit point it is a number between 0and 5, 0 being Poor i.e. Very Unsafe and 5 beingExcellent in terms of overall safety.Indicated in the pie chart is the percentagedistribution of pins in each range. The SafetyScore has also been indicated in the map below.Around 41% of the audit points were found tobe safe whereas 29% of the points were ratedbelow average and needs improvement.

Average Audit Parameters (on a scale of 3)

Pin Distribution for each Parameter

Parameter Ratings:

Each of the nine parameters is rated 0/1/2/3, 0being the poorest and 3 good. The averageparameter ratings graph indicates the overallaverage rating for each parameter.

Openness parameter has been rated the highestfollowed by Lighting, Walkpath and PublicTransport. Security and Gender Usage are theleast rated parameter i.e. Poor. The overallfeeling of Safety for the city of Bhopal is ratedBelow Average.

Parameter-wise Pin Distribution:

The Parameter wise pin distribution graphindicates the number of points rated 0/1/2/3 i.e.the good points as positive and poor ratings asnegative. The parameter of Security, GenderUsage, Visibility and Crowd have been ratedpoorly for the most parts of the city. Lighting andWalkpath needs to be improved in the city.

Gap Impact Analysis:

All parameters do not have an equal impact onthe perception of safety. It is therefore useful toknow how an improvement in each parameterwill impact the Safety Score of the area. TheImpact Bar shown indicates the extent ofinfluence and the relative impact that eachparameter has on the perception of safety. Thecombined length indicates the impact potentialof the parameter. The parameters with themaximum combined length have the highestimpact on the perception of safety and viceversa i.e. Lighting has the maximum impact andTransportation the least. The positive length (ingreen) indicates the extent of provision that hasalready been made on ground. The negativelength (in red) indicates the (remaining) amountof improvement needed to increase the SafetyScore.

Increase in Crowd and Gender Usage isdependent on other parameters. ImprovingLighting, Visibility and Security on the streets ofBhopal will result in safer public spaces.

Gap Impact Graph

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

-4000

-3000

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

-0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6

Lighting

Openness

Visibility

Crowd

Security

Walkpath

Public Transport

Gender Usage

Map indicating Lighting Rating

Lighting1.6 / 3

Lighting in the city has been rated 1.6/3 i.e. Average. On main roads, streetlights are installed along the central median(Pic 1) or along the edge of the road on one side (Pic 3) resulting in well- lit vehicular carriageway but dim-lit footpath.Since lighting has the maximum contribution to the feeling of safety, pedestrian scale lighting is needed along thefootpath.

At some points, the streetlights were found to be inoperative as shown in the map on the following page. It also showsthe audit points where no streetlights are installed as seen in Pic 2. Additional lights need to be installed along thesepoints. Regular maintenance checks should be carried out to ensure that the streetlights are operational. Also, pruningof tree leaves should be carried out to avoid partial and disrupted illumination.

11%

34%

35%

20%

1

Map indicating low rating (0,1) points based off inoperative or no streetlights

Map indicating points with inadequate lighting along the main roads

3

2

Map indicating Walkpath Rating

Walk path in the city has been rated 1.4/3 i.e. Average. Most of the city has a fair availability of footpath as seen in Pic1. Analyzing audits that gave low ratings to the Walkpath parameter, it was found most of the audit points along themajor roads have kaccha or unpaved pavement (Pic 2). Map with audit points with no pavement can also be seen onthe following page. A paved footpath with proper kerb height needs to be constructed along these points. Regularmaintenance checks should be carried out to ensure smooth movement of the pedestrians.

At points with highly rated footpath, it was found to be obstructed by parked cars (Pic 3), signage, streetlights etc.Signage, streetlights should be installed along the edge of the footpath. Proper kerb height and bollards at the rampsshould be provided to prevent cars from accessing the footpath.

Walkpath1.4 / 3

1

18%

39%

28%

15%

Map indicating audit points with no or unpaved walk paths.

Map indicating points with highly rated footpaths but blocked by cars or other obstructions.

3

2

Map indicating Visibility Rating

Visibility has been rated 1.1/3 i.e. Below Average. Most of the audit points have been rated poorly in terms of visibilityowing to geographical features of the city. The high boundary walls of the institutional and public buildings alsocontribute to poor visibility. Height of the solid part of the boundary wall should be reduced and maintained at 1 m.Rest of the height could be attained using uncovered grills to ensure some visibility. Map on the following page showspoints with high crowd at places with zero security and visibility.At some place as seen in Pic 1, street vendors provide natural surveillance on the streets. In absence of designatedspace, these vendors occupy the road or Walkpath as seen in pic 1 and 3. To avoid this, a designated space fortemporary shops and hawkers should be provided along the edge of the boundary walls or footpath. Proper lightingand street furniture should also be provided along these spaces.

1

Visibility1.1 / 3

30%

39%

21%

10%

Map indicating audit points with high crowd and poor rating (0) in terms of Visibility and Security

Map indicating points with high crowd around temporary shops or road side vendors

3

2

Map indicating Public Transport rating

Public Transport in the city has been rated 1.3/3 i.e. Average. While 44% of the audit points have a bus stop within150 m radius, 32% of the audit points have no bus stand within 400 m radius. Para – Transit stands need to be set upat these points and along the bus stops to improve last mile connectivity. As seen in Pic 1, in absence of designatedspace, hawkers, rickshaws and taxi occupy the space near the bus stop. The para – transit stands should havedesignated parking space and space for hawkers along with the street furniture and public toilet facility for thecommuters and drivers.Additionally, proper lighting and footpath around these bus stops should be provided. Shown in the maps on thefollowing page, lighting at most of the bus stops is adequate, the footpath should be such that it provide smoothtransition to the bus stop without any obstruction.

1

Public Transport1.3 / 3

32%

24%

26%

18%

Map indicates lighting rating around the bus stops

Map indicates walkpath rating around the bus stops

3

2

M13/31, DLF PHASE 2, GURGAON – 122001http://www.safetipin.com+91- 124 - 4033075 info@safetipin.com