Reacting to Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawars observation about the inordinate four-year delay in kicking off a project to install 5,000 CCTVs in the city,Home Minister R R Patil said on Tuesday that the government was treading carefully in order to ensure that all legal processes are strictly adhered to in awarding the contract. Stating that the CCTV project remains a priority,Patil said,Considering it has been four years since it was announced,we have to be careful that the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) does not slam us on any small technical issue or due to any blacklisted contractor. He said the bids are being studied closely. It has been almost four years since the state first announced that it would have a 5,000-strong CCTV network in the city,in the wake of the 26/11 terror attacks. It had also planned to later extend such an infrastructure to Pune and Nagpur. However,the government is yet to award the Rs 600-crore contract,the reasons being its pre-occupation with handling the aftermath of the Mantralaya fire and then tackling drought. Chief Secretary J K Banthia,who heads a high-powered committee studying bids for the project,also said there were issues with shortlisted tenders. The ambitious project involves installing 14 cameras in every square kilometre stretch of the city. The project was put on a fast track after three blasts rocked Mumbai July last. Tenders were issued and 10 bids were received. Three consortia were shortlisted after a technical and commercial evaluation of their proposals by an expert technical committee of BEST,BMC,IIT,the state IT department and the Mumbai Police. However,the work order which was to be issued in April is not yet done. Patil also reacted to criticism of his trip to London to study the CCTV project there by clarifying that he had travelled to London at his own cost. The high-powered committee headed by the Chief Secretary set up to take the final decision on this project met several times to decide on the type of cameras,the location for the control room,the linkages between existing camera setups,etc. The Ram Pradhan Committee which probed lacunae in security systems in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks had suggested installation of CCTV cameras at major junctions,places of public congregation and sensitive locations. A team led by home minister R R Patil,senior home department and police officials had visited Londons Scotland Yard to gather expertise. Meanwhile,senior Congressman Anant Gadgil who belongs to Pune which saw four explosions last week said the government must simultaneously spread awareness among people that CCTV networks may not be a deterrent to terror attacks but are more useful to detect crimes. This idea taking root that installing CCTVs will see the end of terrorism is not right, said Gadgil.
