CUTTACK: Seven years have passed since the Commissionerate Police proposed to install CCTV cameras at major traffic intersections in the Millennium City for better surveillance. However, the project is still stuck at the tender stage.
The police had come up with the plan to install CCTVs at traffic intersections, meant to keep a tab on criminals and streamline traffic, in 2014. It envisaged installation of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) CCTV cameras fitted with high-end sensors along with red light violation detection and an automatic plate recognition system.
Based on the findings of a survey, initially 32 cameras were to be installed at vital traffic junctions like Badambadi, Ranihat, Madhupatna, OMP Square, Sikharpur, Khannagar, Chandi Chowk and Buxi Bazaar under the project worth Rs 8 crore. As per the plan, the cameras were to be monitored at control rooms set up at the respective police stations.
While the project was assigned to the State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation, the authorities had fixed a one-year deadline to implement it. Later, with the objective of bringing in maximum locations under surveillance including all entry and exit routes to the city, the project cost was escalated to Rs 11 crore with a revised plan for installation of 147 CCTV cameras at 38 locations and setting up of a central control room at the DCP office.
However, the project is yet to get past the tender stage. The Commissionerate Police have come in for widespread criticism over the delay in implementation. In the absence of CCTV cameras while incidents of crimes like theft, snatching and murder are increasing, traffic in busy intersections of the city often comes to a grinding halt with no means to effectively monitor the movement of vehicles.
Owing to the lack of a surveillance system, the police have also been facing difficulty in keeping a tab on criminal activities like the murder of three homeless people and an elderly couple in 2019 that had jolted the city. In the absence of the system, police personnel have no option but to rely on CCTV cameras installed at residences and markets.
DCP Prateek Singh attributed the delay in the installation of CCTV cameras in the city to glitches in the technical process for finalisation of tender. “The tender process will be finalised soon after going through the proof of concept demonstrated by participating agencies. Once the tender is finalised, the project will be implemented within six months,” he assured.