Nagpur: Around 25% of the CCTV cameras installed nearly a decade ago in Nagpur city, out of a total of 3,500 cameras, are lying defunct for the last several months, according to a local media report. Further, the concerned authorities have made no efforts to either replace or repair these cameras.
Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar expressed his disappointment with the officials of the civic body over the dysfunctional CCTV cameras during a meeting with the officials of Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited and L&T Company on Tuesday, May 9.
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It is reported that maximum cameras in highly crime-prone and communally sensitive areas in North Nagpur and surrounding places are not functioning, crippling policing actions and monitoring. A total of 986 cameras were not functioning across the city on May 9, which were installed by the NSSCDCL to address the deteriorating law and order situation and rising number of accidents in the city. However, these cameras failed to serve the intended purpose as they go kaput quite often.
The company responsible for their installation failed to provide proper service, and the NSSCDCL failed to take action against the erring company. The issue of non-functioning CCTV cameras came to fore after Nagpur cops were left clueless about several street crimes due to non-operational CCTV cameras at vital installations. Citizens have been exposed to the threat of street crimes, and police have little clue to trace the perpetrators, according to the report. Even traffic cops were left in a fix as they could not get any backup from the command and control system.
The ongoing road infra projects have damaged cables of CCTVs at several places, especially on Amravati road, Kalamna, and Pardi, according to the report. Kumar repeatedly asked about the reason behind the dysfunction of the CCTVs apart from monetary issues, which had cropped up earlier too, during the meeting with concerned officials.
The officials were unable to furnish any concrete replies. The top cop urged the concerned officials to start 200-250 cameras at the earliest and asked the civic body officials to fix the responsibilities of the concerned agencies for whom the CCTV cameras are repeatedly developing technical snags. Kumar also asked the service providers to ensure that the defunct CCTV cameras are made operational soon.
The non-functioning CCTV cameras have exposed citizens to the threat of street crimes and have hampered policing actions and monitoring. The concerned authorities need to take immediate action to repair or replace these cameras and ensure that they are operational to address the deteriorating law and order situation in Nagpur city.
