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The Delhi metro is arguably the most important element in a student’s life, especially when she needs to get to that 8 a.m. lecture. Read further for a guide to a more satisfying metro experience.

The metro is the most frequently used mode of transport for most of us students at the Delhi University, and for so many others. So much so that many of us spend long hours everyday on the metro itself. If this ride plays such a prominent role in our lives, it might as well be a rather satisfying experience, if not entirely pleasurable. To ensure this, we must understand and respect the personal space of those travelling with us.

  • Let’s begin with a very basic, yet overlooked issue- do not request people to make room on the bench when there clearly isn’t any. 

Everyone on the metro is already crammed up. There is no point fitting six people on a five-seater bench when no one is comfortable. Which brings me to my next point. If you can, please stand. Stop eyeing younger passengers into giving you their seats. They probably had a worse day than you. Be a little more compassionate towards us, please.

Note: For those of you standing and holding on to the handles for support, maybe try wearing a deodorant? I don’t blame you for having sweaty armpits; we live in Delhi, I’d be surprised if you didn’t. But now that you’re shoving it in so many faces, might as well be a little more considerate of the others around you. After the long, tiring days everyone goes through, sniffing at smelly armpits is really the last thing they need. 

  • Moving on, try to avoid too much PDA.

 I mean, call me orthodox but watching a couple snuggling up in a corner while having your own nose deep in your course book can be highly irksome (?). Sure you’re generating enough heat to warm up the entire metro in this winter season, but kindly spare all the single people out there. They don’t need this kind of negativity in their lives. 

  • Please do not throw up in the metro. 

Again, I understand, it’s a genuine problem. But you cannot ruin the already-melancholic mood of the metro, and then conveniently exit at the next stop. You don’t just throw up. If you feel icky, you get off at the next station and get yourself some medicines. But you don’t wait for it to get worse. It’s about your health only, you see? 

Now there are other issues to be kept in mind. 

  • Listen to Rini Khanna and Shami Narang when they ask you not to eat in the metro or play music.

Trust me, ketchup smells disgusting. We know you want to enjoy your burger to the fullest, but nobody wants to smell that ketchup. No offence, but you don’t even have the best taste in music. Man created earphones for a reason. Now is the right time to flaunt your airpods. 

There is so much you can do to while away your time in the metro while not encroaching upon anyone’s personal space (unless the metro is jam-packed, in which case you can only pray). So let’s try to make our journeys more peaceful and satisfying for all of us.

Feature Image Credits: Hitesh Kalra for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

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The Delhi Cabinet finally passed the bill approving free travel for women in the Delhi Metro leading to multiple debates and discussions.

After about five months since the introduction of the Bill by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government on 11th October, the Delhi Cabinet approved free travel for women in the metro in the national capital. This scheme, announced by Chief Minister Arvend Keijriwal on 3rd June, will be effective from 27th October 2019, the auspicious day of Diwali.

The cabinet approved a grant of INR 980 crore to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to implement the scheme. The cabinet also provided a grant of INR 7 crore to add 380 more feeder buses to the existing number of 194.

In certain studies, it is noted that in the Delhi Metro, women passengers account for almost 25-30 per cent. The average farebox revenue per rider was noted as INR 28, according to the annual report of the DMRC for the year 2018-19. This amounts to almost one-third of DMRC’s total revenue.

“I travel every day from Ghaziabad to South Campus via the metro, which amounts to roughly INR140 per day. A huge amount is spent by my parents every month on my travel expenses. They have been resentful towards the idea of sending my younger sister to a college far from home. This new scheme by the government has given my sister a new hope,” says Rasmila, a student at Jesus and Mary College.

The new scheme also provides a safer mode of transportation to women. “As of now, only 30 per cent of Metro commuters are women. The fare hike last year hit women the worst, forcing them to shift to more unsafe modes of transport like private buses, ride-sharing, or even walking. This move will help them return to the Metro’s safety,” says AAP’s Ashiti on her Twitter account.

However, despite all the support gained by a larger public, the scheme has also received a whole lot of criticism suggesting issues like overcrowding, or a probable drop in the quality of services due to erosion of DMRC funds. Some argue that the money that the Government wants to spend on free metro and bus travel should have been used to improve security infrastructure and uplift women safety in the city.

The idea of free public transport has been experimented across many cities around the globe in the USA and Europe like Germany, Belgium and France. The initiative was taken either for the entire population or for a few sections such as students or senior citizens. The reaction and impact on the use of private cars and increased use of public transport have been mixed.

There is huge anticipation regarding the final execution of this ground-breaking scheme. The effectiveness of the same can only be interpreted for now.

 

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted!

 

Feature Image Credits: Hitesh Kalra for DU Beat

 

Aditi Gutgutia

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The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) on Thursday, 12th September, raised its voice against the construction of a 39-storey high-rise housing society at the North Campus citing safety and privacy concerns.

DUTA has opposed the construction of a 39-storey building in North Campus saying it “would significantly alter the social and cultural landscape of Delhi University” and also compromise the “safety of women students”. The building is coming up adjacent to Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station, near Gate Number 3 and 4. DUTA also stated that the land originally belonged to the Ministry of Defence and was acquired for public purpose by the state government for the construction of metro station by Delhi Municipal Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Consequently, the DMRC sold two-thirds of this land by granting perpetual lease of ninety years to a private builder called ‘Young India’, in the guise of property development and by changing the land use from “public and semi-public facility to residential”, the DUTA alleged.

Sudhanshu Kumar, the Vice President of DUTA, stated, “This is the height of privatisation. It (building) would seriously compromise the safety and privacy of women students on campus as it stands in close proximity to several hostels that house women. It would also pose a serious safety issues for all students on campus, restricting their right to move freely in their own campus. It is clearly a ghotala committed by the State Government, DMRC and ‘Young India’.”

DU had also written to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Home Ministry, as well as the Ministery of Defence on this matter. Officials said that the proposed building is not viable keeping in mind security concerns for the North Campus students, since the building will have a bird’s-eye view of five of the girls’ hostels on the campus – Miranda House Girls’ Hostel, the Central Institute of Education, University Hostel for Women, Meghdoot Girls Hostel and the Girls’ Hostel of the Department of Social Work; apart from several other University buildings.

They said that there is already a severe paucity of spaces for students on campus, for their accommodation, recreation and for other academic activities and the use of this space for a residential complex is questionable in its intent. The Association has also notified that it “will take up the matter with the President of India, who is the visitor to the University”, in conversation with the Dainik Jagran.

Meanwhile, women living in the varsity’s 20 hostels have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concerns over the construction of the high-rise building in the campus, saying that it will “infringe their privacy” and “prejudice the security” of students.

Image Caption: Female students, living in the campus’s 20 hostels, have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising concerns over the construction of the high-rise building in Campus. Image Credits: Jagran Media
Image Caption: Female students, living in the campus’s 20 hostels, have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising concerns over the construction of the high-rise building in Campus.
Image Credits: Jagran Media

The letter reads, “…it (the construction of the structure) would directly infringe the privacy of all the women’s hostel in close proximity to the land, it would prejudice the security of the students who attend departments and colleges in North Campus, since being a private structure the activities that will take place in the building will not be open to public censoring and if such a building is to be constructed in the University area, it would curtail the students’ freedom to move around the campus…”

DU also insists that the construction of this building will come in the way of the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021, that has been envisaged for the city’s infrastructure. Moreover, according to the documents accessed by Mail Today, 228 trees have been felled for the construction of this building.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Bhavya Pandey

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Bhagyashree Chatterjee

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The Delhi metro has helped students through hard times and good times. Snaking through the vast corridors of the state, it has become more than just a means of transport.

For students, the presence of Delhi metro has been a boon. We have now started to spend more time underground than above the ground, happy in our moleskins. No, it is not a place for Pritam and his band to sing romantic songs, and it is not a place for Amitabh Bachchan to let out his inner child in front of his ‘father’. It is our commute, our lifeline. The Delhi metro has served many purposes for the average student of the University of Delhi (DU) since its beginning. Despite helping students beat the strenuous Delhi traffic, the Delhi metro has many other amenities to cater to students. The Vishwavidyalaya metro station’s cheap INR 50 earphones become necessities; copies, books, earrings, and food are readily available right at the metro stations. Not to mention the utility of the bicycles for use on a leisurely day around the campus.

College students spend a substantial amount of time commuting in the metro. The average, broke DU student can hardly afford the luxury of an Uber cab. For the lucky few off-campus students, the metro sometimes serves the purpose of not just connectivity, but also as a completely acceptable excuse to be late to class, on the days the usually punctual metro is confronted with a technical snag.

For a few of us, the metro is also about chance encounters. We meet new people every day, whether it is that jhola-carrying cute guy who asked you what you are reading, or the aunty who threw you dirty looks for rocking out to AC/DC. The metro is a host of characters, and mingling with them is our very own capsule.

Recent expansion in the metro will prove to be more helpful in bridging the north-south divide. The 21.56 km stretch of the Pink Line which is operational now connects the North and South campuses of Delhi University, which would reduce the travel time to 40 minutes. The line also connects 12 stations and the Blue, Yellow, Red, and Airport metro lines. In December 2017, the Prime Minister opened a section of the Magenta Line connecting the Kalkaji Mandir metro station to Botanical Garden in Noida. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is hence slowly expanding and is expected to cover 700 kilometres in a few years as per the Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

 

Feature Image Credits: India Today.

Sara Sohail

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