Vijayapura: Even after a year of inaugurating the works of installing hundreds of CCTV cameras, to tighten the vigilance, across the City, the works are moving at a snail’s pace.
On August 15, 2021, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had inaugurated the works of installing vigilance cameras across the 35 wards of the Vijayapura City Corporation limits. The works are being carried out by the City Corporation. The deadline for the project was August 15, 2022.
The installation work has been handed over to a private agency based in Mangaluru. The project cost is estimated at Rs. 5 Crore and over 500 cameras will be installed in most parts of the City including tourist places, claimed officials at the City Corporation.
With installation works being carried out since past 13 months, so far barely 30 per cent of the work has been finished by the contractor. After completing the works, the City Corporation will hand it over to the Police Department for monitoring and vigilance. However, the Police Department is not happy with the work being carried out at snail’s pace.
SP H. D. Ananda Kumar, said that, “We have asked the City Corporation to speed up the installation of CCTV cameras in the City. This will give a big boost to policing as we can keep vigil around the clock from the control room. The authorities were facing administrative glitches, which was hindering the pace of this project. The works are expected to be completed at the earliest.”
It may be noted that in recent months, the burglaries in the City are going up. From the private CCTV footage of an unknown burglary gang walking in the streets at midnight surfaced multiple times in the district. This has increased the fear among the people in many parts of the City. The police are finding it hard to nab the burglars as there are hardly any CCTV cameras in the streets and main roads of the City.
Admitting that works are being carried out in slow pace, Vijay Makalaki, Commissioner of the City Corporation, said, “The administrative issues, delay in identification of control room building and other minor issues are the factors for delaying in this project. The problems have been addressed and directions have been given to the contractor to complete the works at the earliest. The works will be completed by the end of this year.”
