CCTVs: Wake-up calls fail to stir officials

Unable to make use of its own CCTV system,the PMC recently made it mandatory for commercial establishments to install CCTV cameras outside entrances.

The move came in view of recent blasts outside a food joint,a bank and a shoe shop. “The ward officers have been directed to ensure that commercial establishments follow the civic decision failing which action would be taken against owners,” said a civic official.

The civic administration,meanwhile,has been blaming elected representatives for failure in implementing the ITS. “If not for the delay by corporators,the ITS that is in place could have been useful in controlling traffic. In fact,the system was useful in cracking some crimes in the past,” he said.

PMC had set up a control room to monitor feed from cameras set up across the city to penalise traffic violators. The ITS faced initial hurdles because of a disagreement between police and PMC over sharing of costs,and another hiccup later when corporators,perhaps realising that implementation of the ITS would affect citizens and reflect on civic poll results,put it on pause.

“The project was difficult to sustain as it was not in use while the civic body had to incur cost of maintenance and pay for connectivity to the service provider. The service provider had discontinued connectivity of the cameras with control room for non-payment of dues,Unfortunately,the camera installed at the place where the blasts had taken place was not in operation,” said a civic officer.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Naresh Zurmure has ordered the administration to restore connectivity to all cameras. “We cannot let the facility go waste when it’s installed. The connectivity cost is not much and the PMC has assured the contractor that the dues will be paid,” he added.

Meanwhile,the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has decided to set up CCTVs at 180 spots. The decision was taken after Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recently promised assistance from the state for setting up CCTVs. PCMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Prakash Kadam said PCMC and the traffic police would jointly put up the CCTVs. “The survey to select the spots is on. Traffic police would monitor the CCTVs,” he said. (With inputs from Manoj More)

Sassoon surveillance plan kept pending

In the wake of recent reports of theft of babies and escape of undertrials brought for treatment from Sassoon General Hospital,CCTVs are needed urgently at the hospital . But the proposal to set up nearly 50 CCTVs at Sassoon has been pending for a year now.

Director of Medical Education and Research (DMER) Dr Pravin Shingare said the scheme was in the final stages and all 14 government hospitals will soon get CCTVs. “After incidents of theft of one or two babies at the government hospital,we have already installed CCTVs at the gynaecology and obstetric wards of Sassoon Hospital in Pune and J J Hospital in Mumbai,” Shingare told Newsline.

When contacted,Dr D B Kadam,officially designated by Sassoon Hospital to speak to mediapersons,admitted that the proposal to install CCTVs has been pending for long. “CCTVs are needed at the casualty,OPD and other areas of the 1,200-bed hospital,” Kadam said.

CCTVs at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)-run Kamala Nehru Hospital and YCM Hospital at Pimpri-Chinchwad were installed just recently. “We have submitted a proposal to the civic administration for installing CCTVs at PMC-run hospitals,” said Dr S T Pardeshi,acting chief medical officer of PMC.

PCMC health chief Dr Anand Jagdale said the CCTV has helped the authorities deal with the huge crowd at the OPD and also control movement of people at the casualty ward of YCM Hospital. “It is a blessing,” said Bhomi Bhote,CEO of Ruby Hall Clinic. He said CCTV footage had helped cops nab the culprit who posed as a doctor and stole jewellery from patients at the hospital.

Dr Ambarish Shahade,former president of the city unit of the Indian Medical Association,insists that hospitals should install CCTVs as their duty towards society.

“We installed CCTVs as part of renovation of Shahade Hospital two years ago and were able to help police in theft-related incidents at least twice. Even staff behave well as they know they are being monitored,” said Shahade.

At D Y Patil Hospital in Pimpri,CCTVs have been installed in sensitive areas like the casualty,OPDs and corridors. “CCTVs have also been installed in lecture halls,” said Dr A L Kakrani,Head of the Department of Medicine at D Y Patil Medical College.