‘Eyewatch Railways’- a mobile app to make travelling safe for women

Mumbai, November 7: Travelling for women in Mumbai Railways is not safe after the incidents were reported of ‘sexual harassments’ experienced by the commuters on the platforms and trains. To make the travelling secure for women travelling between Churchgate and Virar, Railway Protection Force has developed a mobile application ‘Eyewatch Railways’. 

"This app has an alert button, by tapping which or simply pressing the power button four times, Eyewatch Railways notifies the RPF Control and informs the user's call guardians via SMS. It has location updating feature as well, which allows the RPF Control Center to view the commuter's constantly updated locations until she reaches at a safe destination," he said.

This app helps women commuters in times of emergency, as they can immediately send out their location, video and audio which can instantly be viewed on the emergency response control centre at the RPF Control room at Mumbai Central, he added.

"The eight chosen guardians, doctors and security personnel also receive the alert SMS and automatically a phone call is made to the them (guardians). It functions only when a commuter uses it while on railway premises," he added.

The application has been customized for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to dispatch an immediate response by sending RPF personnel from the nearest station to help the Women Commuters; the official said adding, "Over one lakh passengers have downloaded the app so far."

"In addition to it, it displays the current battery (status of the user's phone), network signal strength, blood group, type of emergency along with other important data that can be viewed on the web-based Eyewatch Control Center located at the RPF Control Room," Bhakar said.