In the aftermath of the December 16 gangrape and the public outrage that followed,the Delhi government had promised to install CCTV cameras on buses on a priority basis. Yet,seven months later,the Transport department is yet to finalise specifications for purchasing CCTV cameras. A pilot project to install CCTV cameras on buses was initiated in January 2013. While there was much talk on the project before this,there was no movement till the incident on the night of December 16 when a 23-year-old paramedic student was gangraped aboard a moving bus. The Home Ministry had also recommended the Delhi government to fast track installation of CCTV cameras on buses. Yet,work on this project is moving at a snails pace. The transport department had engaged Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd to finalise technical specifications. The specifications have been received and forwarded to Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC),which has given its comments and suggestions on the matter. A final decision has to be taken on the technical specifications,after which DTC will float tenders for procurement of CCTV cameras, a transport official said. Besides CCTV cameras,home guards were also deployed on DTC night buses as a security measure. But buses running till 11 pm have no home guards. Currently,there are 92 buses operating on 24 night service routes. A list of buses which are still operating after 10 pm has been made. But the funds for deployment of home guards on those buses has to be provided by the transport department, a DTC official said. According to the government,providing a home guard on all 5,000 buses plying in the evening would pose a logistics problem with the sanctioned strength of home guards in the city being just around 10,000.
