Not one of the 37 CCTVs in Margao working. No maintenance contract signed by MMC

PRATIK PARAB

 pratik@herald-goa.com

MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC), the custodian of a useful project like the CCTV surveillance in Margao, has dragged its feet on maintaining them for approximately five years, as all the cameras started going out of order, one by one. With no maintenance contract, the town is left with no CCTV cameras to monitor the streets of traffic violations or crimes.

This shocking reality was reaffirmed during the gruesome murder of jeweller Swapnil Walke, when the Goa police had to search for CCTV footage from nearby shops and establishments, since its traffic cell and control room had no access to independent footage from the streets of the town, which would have given them a clear picture of the movements of the killers both, before and after the murder.

Under the MPLAD scheme, MMC had got 37 CCTV cameras to be fitted across the town. The cost of the project was Rs 18 lakhs for Margao. The project was commissioned in November 2013, in various phases. 

The South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, speaking to Herald said, “The Municipality had to look after the project. The MP can’t spend money on old projects. Today’s practice is that any MPLAD project, the beneficiary has to give an undertaking to conduct maintenance. Maybe we did not sign the same during this project”.

This undertaking was indeed signed. This was confirmed by the Chief Officer of Margao Municipal Council (MMC) Deepali Naik had informed of having signed the undertaking. “I did sign the undertaking” (for the maintenance of the CCTV cameras) she said when contacted. However, sources informed that later, neither of the offices bothered to get the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed for the handover of the project.  

This makes it clearer that the onus lies with MMC.

Making a significant point, former Chairperson of MMC Savio Coutinho said, “Several projects have been taken and commissioned through MPLAD but no one has bothered to maintain them. The CCTV project is one such case” he said.

 Another factor that affected the process of the CCTV project was the constant transfers of the Chief Officers of Margao. Some also said that the cost of the ‘Annual Maintenance’ contract is not huge and it was expected from the office of the MP to sign it before purchase. However, the CCTVs went out of order much later and the MMC was expected to follow up on the repairs and restoration. 

Even as the CCTVs started going down one by one, with not a single one repaired; MMC and the Trafiic cell started a blame game, with blinkers on. Each argued over who “benefits” from the CCTV cameras, a project meant for the safety of Margao

Incidentally, this project was sanctioned during Sardinha’s previous tenure as the South Goa MP. However, MMC has only been claiming that the same wasn’t “handed over” to them, which stopped them from spending money and restoring the same. This effectively only means that a bureaucratic formal “hand over” had not happened. This issue is ‘merely’ technical and can’t take 5 years to resolve.

 When asked whether the MMC has to go ahead and restore the CCTVs, MP Sardinha said, “Rather than having a new system spending more money, MMC could have spent some money and restored the CCTVs in Margao”.

MMC sources added that they will be now installing new CCTV cameras through the 14th Finance Commission money they have received. A meeting to that effect has been convened. When asked the Chief Officer Ajit Panchwadkar explained that,” there is a plan but it is not yet finalised.”

 Margao Traffic Police Inspector Suraj Samant said, “Not one of the CCTVs is working. There is no progress on the front of who takes care of the CCTV system. Many letters have gone to the MMC but nothing has happened.”

He also said that the costing of the maintenance wouldn’t have been too expensive and would be important for the overall welfare of the town. 

According to MMC, the action taken by the Traffic cell of Margao police such as sending challans, booking violations and collecting money, made them the beneficiaries. The attitude of the MMC putting a spoke in the work or restoration of the CCTVs has rendered the Margao Town insecure as far as the CCTV surveillance is concerned.

Sardinha recently held a meeting with the Collector and discussed the issues surrounding the CCTVs. However, nothing has happened after that.