Safety Tips in Delhi

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Public transport in India can be unreliable, slow, unpredictable and sometimes dangerous....

I used to travel frequently from the Crown Hotel, in the old city of Delhi to Connaught Circus in the new city, on the motorised rickshaws, some were Lambretta scooters with a cab built on to the frame, others, and my favourite ,were ancient Harley Davidson motor bikes with a larger cab, often overloaded with passengers.

One day on this regular journey, the rickshaw I was travelling on was involved in an accident, almost head-on, with another rickshaw, I was ejected by the force of the collision on to the road, but only suffered bruising. The man sitting in front of me was not so lucky, his arm was badly gashed and he had to be taken to hospital.

The Delhi traffic is chaotic, whatever traffic regulations exist are universally disregarded by the rickshaws, intent on completing journeys as quickly as possible to maximise revenue. After this experience, I always kept my eyes on the road to anticipate a crisis and be ready to jump to safety!

Benny.

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Hello Travelers,
Well in summer temperature rise to above 40 degree celsius and public has to drink water because of thirst. The cost is 1 Rupees (About 2.5 American Cent per Glass).
I doubt if ever a tourist may drink from street water which is supplied in glass, but this is a good reminder and warning to all that NEVER DRINK FROM STREET WATER SUPPLIERS!! This street water sellers offer water in a glass, that's fine. After one drinks from the glass they just pour some water in the glass and wipe the glass with their hand as that makes the glass clean and sterile for the next customer!! Please check the pictures, the first two are when they supply the water in glass and the next two shows when they clean the glass with water and wiping with their hands.
I just wonder if there is any health official in this city or not. Are there any Doctors specialized in communicable diseases to stop this unhygienic practice or at least advise the authorities to provide disposable cups. There are 1.2 billion living in this great country and why nobody stand up to stop this wrong practices (Probably they have shortage of skilled individuals). Well as the golden rule here, NOBODY CARES ABOUT NOTHING AND THE LEAST VALUABLE THING IS THE HUMAN LIFE HERE. Probably many members of the public fall ill on daily basis for this unhygienic practices but as usual NOBODY CARES ABOUT NOTHING AND NOBODY WANTS TO IMPROVE THE LIFE OF THE PUBLIC!!Next time when someone says to me Incredible India I respond that yes the only thing which are incredible in India are LACK OF ORDER, PROPER ADMINISTRATION AND CARE AND VALUE REQUIRED FOR THE HUMAN LIFE. Shame on the people who are on the seat of power and do nothing to stop this MESS.
Take care and be safe.

Hi travelers,
Well to start with I should say there is no efficient system of monitoring food handlers in the small shops in Delhi. Absolutely there is no sense of hygiene when the food is prepared and surprisingly local people they don't care :-( To be exact, when you go to have a sandwich, snack, sweet , or (gol gappe) the food handler picks it with his/her hand and place it in a dish (God knows if the dish is clean or not) before offering it to you! As if their hand is the proper way of handling food. Well, they don't have any fault, they have never seen a better way of life and mostly they are illiterate. So my best advise is to always take food in 4 star hotels and above (Or if you cant afford it always ask for your food to be heated before serving (Either in Microwave or on the direct heat source). I am living in Delhi and Mostly having food (Fruits, Salads, canned food) at home and when I really like to get out I visit KFC, Subway or a good hygiene hotel!!
Another advise is never accept water in a glass when you visit different places, ALWAYS carry your own bottled water.
Sadly, India has a long way to go to reach the minimum basic standards (Health, Hygiene, transport,etc.....) that exist in other parts of the world!!
A friend of mine now is sick with Hepatitis A.

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Well, at the moment I live in New Delhi and I am very disappointed with everything I see in this beautiful city. First let me clear myself, I love India and the warm hearted people living in this great country!! However whatever so far I have seen leads me to believe that nothing is planned, there is no regulation, nobody is there to check the problems, many obvious ways to improve the life are ignored and number one NOBODY CARE ABOUT ANYTHING HERE!! The pictures you see in this Tip belongs to a park that is near my residence. But there is a big problem. The main entrance of the park is meant for the entrance of Cars, Motor Cycles and pedestrians all together!! There is no separate entrance for public (Pedestrians) and they have to slide among the cars and motor cycles in busy hours to get in or out. This is a problem by itself which does not bother me much but the main matter which is making me upset is that, isn't there any civil engineer, town planner, park official to come and see the problem and at least to draw a plan to provide a separate gate for pedestrians?? Well as I said here NOBODY CARES ABOUT NOTHING AND THE THING WHICH IS THE LEAST IMPORTANT IS THE LIFE AND SAFETY OF TE PUBLIC. PERSONALLY I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT newspapers, officials, etc.. but the more I struggle to get to them the less successful I am.
Go ahead and check the pictures yourself, it clearly shows the mess at the entrance of the park. Heaven knows how many people have got injured while entering or exiting the park due to an accident. NOBODY CARES ABOUT NOTHING AND HUMAN LIFE IS THE CHEAPEST HERE!!

You cannot sleep in New Delhi Airport. The arrivals hall has no place for one to rest -- no chairs or benches and the cops will move you to the outside. There is a resting place outside where you pay a few rupees and there you can sleep. But you must check in a least two hours prior to flying out. How much time do you have to kill?

If you look like a tourist, 50% of the tuc-tucs you get in will try and take you via a 'shopping centre' or 'government travel agent'. Be clear before you get in when you are negotiating your price that you want to go stright to your destination, you don't want to go shopping and you don't require the services of an Travel agent. You may have to be firm and maybe walk away if necessary.
One guy told us that 'Chadni Chowk was closed that morning (yeah right - I don't mind them touting for business but not lying) and dropped us outside his 'cousins' shop anyway, despite our insistances, telling us that the Chowk was just around the corner. Another stopped his vehicel and told us to get out when it was clear that we didn't want to go to his brothers travel agency. To be honest it's not a great problem - just don't over any money until you are where you want to be.

Many first time travelers to India find themselves falling victim to scams and touts, and unfortunately Delhi has lots of both. Be on guard for anybody trying to help you by giving you unsolicited directions or travel advice, and take any advice from taxi and auto drivers with a grain of salt, especially if they tell you the place you want to go to is closed, dangerous, etc. If this is your first time to India do not admit it, as this will make you a mark for the scam artists.

Delhi is an increasingly unsafe place for women. It is not uncommon to receive lewd remarks or even physical touching. If you are coming into Delhi at night, stay in the airport lounge, or well lit areas until daybreak. Try to avoid walking around alone or hiring cabs alone. Dress conservatively (preferably in Indian clothing so as to blend in), learn to shout, and consider carrying mace/pepper spray. Police vehicles (called PCR vans) are parked almost on every major intersection. Dial 100 in case of emergencies.

Carry your cash, passport, and cards in a secure money belt, with only enough cash for a few hours at a time in your wallet or other acccessible place. Some travelers recommend carrying an expendable wallet with a few ten rupee bills in it in an obvious place such as your hip pocket as a decoy to Delhi's ubiquitous pickpockets.

As a general rule, expect anyone handling your cash in Delhi to attempt to shortchange you; you may be favorably surprised once or twice during your visit. Learn the currency, count out your payment and change carefully, and be insistent in any dispute.

We were due to leave Delhi for Kalka on our way up to Shimla. We got to New Delhi train station to find that there was no sign of our train. We were at the wrong train station with half an hour left before our train left. We needed to be at Old Delhi train station. We ran out of the station, got a taxi driver down from 400 to 300 Rupees (excessive I know to get to Old Delhi train station). The taxi driver saying that the traffic is bad so it costs that much. We did not have change and surprise surprise neither did the taxi driver, so it cost us 500 Rupees. We got to the station with minutes to spare only to find that the train was due to leave at 10.20pm not 10pm as one of the stations was closed.

We made it!

Coming back our train stopped at New Delhi train station.