Flying squads to keep tabs on commuters in Metro trains

After giving Delhi a world-class Metro rail service, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is embarking on a more serious mission — instilling civic sense in its passengers — ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October this year.

The corporation is going to start penalizing commuters found spitting and littering inside trains and Metro stations and defacing Metro property.

For this, DMRC has constituted four special flying squads of officials to prosecute those dirtying the system. The squads have been instructed to move around in trains and visit stations on all the operational lines on a daily basis.
‘‘In March, 195 cases of spitting were detected by Metro officials, while there were 62 cases of defacement of Metro property. The station staff has been specifically directed to keep a close eye on commuters indulging in spitting, littering or defacing the Metro premises,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.

To safeguard against instances of harassment, special staff has been designated to prosecute passengers indulging in unlawful activities and unruly behaviour. These station managers and controllers have already been issued ‘Authorized For Penalty’ identity cards, which have to be displayed on demand.

DMRC is also planning to rope in volunteers of the Metro Citizens Forum to report cases of commuter misbehaviour so that action can be taken against such people. The volunteers have been asked to report all such cases to Metro staff present inside the stations.

Thousands of foreign visitors are expected to use the Metro during the Games scheduled in October later this year, and the Delhi Metro wants to maintain world-class civic standards in its trains and stations to welcome them. ‘‘The DMRC will continue with these measures on its system from now on, to ensure cases of spitting or defacement of the Metro are completely brought under control. About one million commuters use the Metro on any working day, and it is expected that two million commuters will be using the system by the time of the Commonwealth Games,’’ the spokesperson added.