With feedback from 5,000 girls, officials work to make Nainital district safe

Of these, 89 spots were listed as “highly vulnerable” for reasons such as their seclusion and the lack of adequate street lighting there, making them particularly prone to crimes against women.

This drive is significant following a recent viral video from Haldwani that purportedly showed some men harassing some girls who were returning home late in the night. According to officials, the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata further encouraged the Nainital administration to run such a “sensitisation” programme under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign.

Last week, Chief Secretary Radha Raturi issued orders to have the administration’s drive replicated across Uttarakhand.

“A total of 102 people have been arrested under the Uttarakhand Police Act during this drive. Periodic police patrolling is being done at the locations that the girls identified. Feedback has also been received from schools,” city magistrate A P Bajpai told The Indian Express, adding that while some areas are still unattended, “rigorous action will be taken there too”.

According to the district administration, in the first week of September, Nainital District Magistrate Vandana Singh constituted a team of five female officers from various departments — including the police — to hold gender sensitisation workshops. The team, helmed by nodal officer Richa Singh, Uttarakhand’s additional director, training and employment, was tasked with holding workshops in schools and asking girl students about the areas that they felt unsafe.

“Being a woman, I can understand when girls go out, parents have so many apprehensions and it affects the children’s education and career. So, we thought of making a team of women officers to directly talk to the girls and ask them where they feel unsafe and how we can make that area safer,” Singh said.

According to officials, the girl students reported being groped at auto-rickshaw stands and inside autos, and being harassed outside their schools and even shopping malls.

On the basis of these reports, the district administration has drawn up a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Under this, raids were conducted, with police also arresting those drinking at roadside eateries. Likewise, action was taken against people who gathered without reason near schools and coaching centres, vacant plots and also on roadsides, officials said.

Meanwhile, 28 plot owners have been challaned after their abandoned properties were used for “nuisance” activities. According to Bajpai, these owners have been told to fence their properties, with the administration issuing orders that there would be regular police patrolling in these areas.

The district administration is also conducting a verification drive of all rickshaws, e-rickshaws and roadside vendors, said Singh. Uniforms of khaki pants and shirts have been made mandatory for all auto drivers from December and identity-cards are currently being distributed among them.

But these measures are not only reactive, they are also preventive. According to officials, the SOP also recommends running Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) awareness programmes in schools for boys.

Based on students’ reports, the Haldwani Municipal Corporation has also installed street lights at 106 locations and the exercise is ongoing in other places, officials said.

There is also a crackdown on “night-time loitering”, with the administration holding counselling sessions for youngsters who get “caught”.

“We will intensify these exercises in the coming days. It will be a continuous process,” DM Vandana Singh said, adding that girls have been made aware of helpline numbers, now being displayed in auto-rickshaws, schools and other public places.