Women security: No takers for proposal of wire mesh in RTC buses

Hyderabad: Recommendation of the seven-member committee constituted by the Telangana State government on women's safety that a wire mesh be provided to separate female and male commutes in the RTC buses evoked mixed responses from woman commuters.

While some welcomed the proposed partition, some others pointed out that it would not address real problems being faced by women travelling particularly in red buses. A techie, S Radhika who commutes from Dilshuknagar to Hi-tech city in RTC buses, said the nearly one-and-a-half-hour journey was a nightmare every day. “When buses are crammed, women passengers suffer a lot as men and women are forced to share the standing space. Many a times, women passengers face embarrassing situations and hence a separate wire mesh will not help,” she said.

Agreeing with Radhika, another woman commuter Pratyusha Pappu said women commuters were at the receiving end when the buses were crammed. Pratyusha commutes from Lal Bagh to Jubilee Hills but she said dividing the space between men and women with a wire mesh would not be of much use. “What is required is to increase the frequency of buses. While some buses are crammed, other services on the same route run with a few commuters. Decongestion needs to be addressed by increasing the number of buses, both general and special buses for women. Wire mesh cannot be a permanent solution,” she said.