CCTVs at only two of city’s 20 intersections functiona

Since then no repair work has been carried out,resulting in the entire project hitting a new roadblock. According to sources,the company Zicom Ltd has refused to carry out the repair work owing to non-payment. The Engineering Department stopped payments to the company after they were not satisfied with it and had not paid them the full and final amount. The company,on its part,has so far failed to provide the much desired and awaited automatic penalty booking software,which enables the CCTVs to capture the image of a violator without any manual assistance.

An RTI query filed by Newsline revealed that the Chandigarh Administration has spent Rs 68 lakh as additional expenditure on these cameras,the original cost of which was Rs 4.4 crore. The figure includes an amount of Rs 3.3 lakh incurred on the installation of a high-tech control room at the Traffic Lines,Sector 29,Rs 40 lakh as bills to the contractor and another Rs 10 lakh towards payment of advertising bills. The Traffic Police have started issuing challans since May 7 making use of the cameras.

Moreover,11 computers operators who were hired in March this year for technical help have been shown the door this week and just two head constables are now stationed at the hi-tech control room. They are manning the entire project and issuing challans manually.

The 11 operators,who are computer graduates,were hired on contract and were deputed to the control room. Their sudden dismissal from the job has resulted in a lot of resentment and operators have written to the UT Administrator to look into their their plight. “We were terminated all of a sudden and without prior notice. We are feeling cheated by the Traffic Police,” said one of the operators.

Trying our best: SP (Traffic)

When contacted,SP(Traffic) H S Doon admitted that Zicom Ltd has not taken interest in the repair work. While sources confirmed that only two cameras have been functioning since October 16,the senior official claimed that a total of nine cameras are functioning at various traffic intersections. “Cameras at nine out of the the total 20 locations are currently functional. While 95 cameras were installed,50 are not working and 45 are operational. Connections to some intersections were lost after the JCB machines ran over the cables. We have been sending repeated reminders to the company and the cameras will be fully operational in a few days,” Doon claimed. Asked about the technical staff being shown the door,the SP said that the police staff is now well equipped to manage the technical equipment. “We do not need people on contract as the police force is now self-equipped. But will still look into what needs to be done regarding the operators,” he said.

Plea for separate wing

The Chandigarh Traffic Police has requested the Engineering Department of the Chandigarh Administration to dedicate a separate wing for traffic engineering and equipment maintenance. According to sources,most of the time the repair work is stalled owing to issues of the Engineering Department with the company as well as owing to delays in repair on their part. “If there could be a dedicated wing from the Engineering Department’s side to work on equipment maintenance,such problems would be resolved,” explained Doon.