GUILHERME ALMEIDA
When Inspector General of Police, Sunil Garg had an interaction with citizens during his visit to the district police headquarters, Margao a week ago, he laid special emphasis on security, in addition to health and wealth. His plea to the market traders was simple: Install a CCTV camera in and around their premises for a round-the-clock vigil and help prevent thefts and burglaries.
The IGP’s message was clear that a minimum investment on CCTV cameras can pay rich dividends in terms of security, health and wealth. But, welcome to the district headquarters, South where lakhs of rupees invested on CCTV cameras in South Goa – bringing the towns of Vasco, Margao, Quepem and Sanguem under the Big Brother — are lying under-utilised for want of men-in-uniform. While the avowed objective behind the CCTV camera project funded under the MPLAD scheme of outgoing MP Francisco Sardinha was to tone up security and reign in on traffic violators, the project has gone haywire because of manpower constraints.
The spate of thefts and burglaries in these towns in recent months seemed to have not spurred the police higher-ups to make optimum use of the CCTV cameras to tone up security and prevent crimes. It’s over a year now since the CCTV cameras were commissioned in the district headquarters, but the men-in-uniform have till date not utilised the facility to its optimum level to track down the movements of anti-social elements during nights – for want of manpower.
A senior police officer said the centralised CCTV room housed in the district police headquarters is being manned by a skeletal staff comprising of seven personnel headed by a police officer of the rank of police sub-inspector. “These personnel normally work from 9.30 in the morning to 7 in the evening, the manpower shortage does not allow the personnel to work in shifts and monitor the footage during the night. The CCTV cameras are not monitored during the night to prevent crimes and the footage is made available to the police stations the next day only if a request comes from a police station after reporting of a crime”, informed a senior police officer.
Presently, the men-in-uniform use the system only to book traffic violators, in offences ranging from unauthorised parking, buses plying with open doors, crawling on the roads etc. “The CCTV centre has collected revenue amounting to Rs 12 lakh over a period of six months and half. On an average, the centre issues around 100 notices a day for traffic violations”, a police officer said.
