Five years on, CCTV camera project still hanging fire

PK Jaiswar

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Tribune News Service 

Amritsar, February 25 

The residents wait for much touted CCTV project, wherein close circuit cameras were to be installed at various vital inter sections and points of the city, is being prolonged. The project was envisaged over five years ago.

The crime graph in Amritsar is escalating irrespective of the so called efforts of the city police. Unabated instances of snatchings, especially involving tourists and foreign nationals, besides robberies continue to bring a bad repute to the holy city.

The project was envisioned to curb crime by nailing criminal elements, besides streamlining the traffic by reducing violations through the CCTV footage.

 The project was first envisaged in 2011 by the then Member of Parliament, Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amritsar Improvement Trust was supposed to fund the project, but it could not see the light of the day. Later, while announcing the “Safe city” project, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had also spoken about installation of CCTV cameras in two districts, including Ludhiana and Amritsar. Sukhbir had announced to install CCTV cameras first before the 2012 Assembly elections and then during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. 

Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala, patron Amritsar Vikas Manch, said in the annual Budget of 2014, Finance Minister, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, kept a provision of Rs 150 crore under the safe city project in Amritsar and Ludhiana for installing over 1,000 CCTV cameras on the pattern of New York by using latest and sophisticated crime-prevention technology solutions. The same project was part of his earlier Budget speech in 2013. 

Pride and Water Cooper, a multinational company, along with the city police had completed the survey regarding installation of the CCTV cameras at the 432 points in the Amritsar. 

In the first phase, as many as 450 cameras were to be installed at the 180 points. A total of 1,577 cameras were planned to be installed at 432 points in the city. Nevertheless, the project could not move beyond the survey. 

  Some of the key locations identified by the police for the installation of the CCTV cameras, include Gumtala bypass, Chheharta Chowk, Fatehgarh Churian Road bypass chowk, GNDU Chowk, Putlighar Chowk, bus stand, railway station, T-point Daburjee bypass, T-point Vallah bypass, Verka bypass, T-point Ram Tirath Road, Majitha Road bypass, besides inside city locations.

Gumtala urged the Punjab government to execute the project in a time bound manner. A senior police official wishing not to be named said the survey report was handed over to the government and it was being analyzed technically. He said it was expected that the government would float the tender by March end.