A smartphone app for women commuters, which relays emergency alerts and also a 60-second video recording to security men and dear ones, was launched by the Railway Protection Force for the Western line on Tuesday. 'EyeWatch Railways' will function only when a commuter uses it while on railway premises.
Between January and August 2017, the RPF nabbed more than 10,700 men travelling in the ladies compartment. Ninety seven percent of them were convicted and Rs 25.5 lakh realised in fines.
"We have worked on improving this smartphone app for a few months to customise it as per commuters' needs. The commuter needs to enter her phone number for registeration. We can also identify the location of the phone and send help accordingly," said chief security commissioner Udai Shukla, RPF (WR).
Eyewatch Railways is free to download. It features multiple alerts—medical, security, emergency taxi and sexual harassment. The alert sent out has information that can help track down the user. It consists of GPS location and a URL, which can be tapped and used for tracking in real-time. The RPF control room gets the same information as well the emergency contacts. When the panic alert is turned off, they will again get another alert as to whether it was a false alarm or whether the user has now marked herself as safe.
There are 1,486 cameras on Western Railway that are monitored by the RPF. There's also an active WhatsApp group called Sakhi where members are RPF women personnel and female commuters travelling regularly on the suburban section. Commuter grievances and suggestions are shared on this group, officials said.
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