Applying cluster-analysis formula, the trio chalked out areas based on the number of crimes being reported annually around police stations within the limits of Pune Municipal Corporation. (File)A new study to identify crime hotspots within Pune city has found Swargate, Deccan, Bund Garden and Bibwewadi areas unsafe, reporting the highest number of cases of robbery and molestation.
Central areas of Pune and the path along the Pune-Bengaluru highway were tagged as crime hotspots whereas Hinjewadi, Hadapsar and Wanawdi were among the relatively safe areas, as per the study.
Researchers Dharmendra Singh from Haryana Space Applications Centre, Saswati Mondal of the Institute of Environment and Education Research at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune, and Rakesh Kumar of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education in Dehradun used Geographical Information System (GIS) and statistical models to integrate the traditional law enforcement data with spatially-obtained crime data onto a map to arrive at the findings.
Applying cluster-analysis formula, the trio chalked out areas based on the number of crimes being reported annually around police stations within the limits of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). They used data on crime– robbery, dacoity, molestation and rape — registered by the Pune Police between 2012 and 2015.
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“The high risk of crime has been identified to be formed in the central regions of the city. These locations were Swargate, Duttawadi, Sahakarnagar, Bibwewadi, Vishrambaugwada, Faraskhana, Khadak and Shivajinagar,” the study, published in Springer’s GeoJournal, said.
Further, a moderate rate of crime emerged from areas patrolled by police stations at Bund Garden, Kothrud, Warje and Sinhagad road. Whereas the lowest number of crime cases, as per the study’s findings, were seen at Hinjewadi, Vishrantwadi, Viman Nagar, Hadapsar, Chaturshrungi, Wanawdi and Kondhwa police stations.
The possible and locally available conditions, experts suggest, as contributing factors for the occurrences of crimes concentrated in certain areas were high density of population, transport transit points, large number of migrants and growing slum area cover, increased use of liquor among others.
Pertinently, the crime rate — of the four types of crime mentioned — showed an upward trend with the researchers noting an average increase by 173 cases annually between 2012 and 2015.
The highest number of cases reported during the study period was that of robbery (1,455 cases) followed by molestation (1,007 cases), rape (488 cases) and dacoity (134 cases).
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