The Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), in collaboration with IT company CGI, has released its B.SAFE Constituency Public Place Safety Audit Reports for the Vijayanagar and Govindarajanagar Assembly Constituencies, highlighting significant gaps in the safety of public spaces for women.
The reports, unveiled on Saturday, result from an in-depth assessment of 265 public places across six key categories frequently accessed by women. These categories span nine Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards in Vijayanagar and 10 BBMP wards in Govindarajanagar.
Key findings
The reports were released in the presence of Priya Krishna, MLA of Govindarajanagar, and Srividya Natraj, Vice President of CGI. The audit encompassed 46 Anganwadi Kendras, 131 bus stops, 58 parks, 10 Primary Health Centers (PHCs), four police stations, and 16 public toilets across both constituencies.
A recurring issue across all six audited constituencies was the lack of adequate safety measures at bus stops and parks. Siri pointed out that access to functional toilets was also a major concern.
In Vijayanagar, five out of 11 audited public toilets were not open throughout the day. Additionally, 41 out of 52 bus stops required improved lighting, and 95% of the 24 surveyed parks lacked adequate security guards.
Overall safety scores
The analysis across the nine BBMP wards in Vijayanagar and 10 BBMP wards in Govindarajanagar revealed that the overall public place safety score requires significant improvement.
The audit was conducted by students from RNS College of Architecture, Bengaluru. The findings are expected to prompt local authorities to take immediate action to enhance the safety and accessibility of public spaces for women in these areas