MARGAO
On September 2, 2020, a team of Margao police headed by police station in-charge, PI Sachin Narvekar literally hopped from one shop to another at the city’s Alto-Monte with an avowed objection “ to lay its hands on the CCTV footage from the establishments to help nab the killers of young city-jeweller, Swapnil Walke.
On June 25, 2022, Margao police station in-charge, PI Sachin Narvekar and his team were on the same job on Saturday, this time at the city’s Sirvodem area, as they moved from one shop to another with the hope of getting CCTV footage to shed light on the cold blooded murder of an unknown person, lying dead in a mini-truck.
Indeed, almost two years down the lane, the commercial capital is still yet to come under the scanner of Big Brother, throwing up a host of questions on Margao Municipal Council’s failure to revive the CCTV surveillance cameras and the police and district administration’s apathy to the CCTV project.
Take note, the Margao Municipal Council in coordination with the police had revived as many as 23 defunct CCTV cameras after jeweller Swapnil Walke’s murder, with the promise to bring the entire city under the surveillance cameras at the earliest.
Sadly, leave alone the city being brought under the CCTV scanner, even the 23 cameras repaired and replaced post-Walke’s murder are all down and out, for want of maintenance. Resultantly, the Traffic Police control room, housed in the district police headquarters, Margao no more issues notices to traffic violators for want of the cameras. And, the Margao and Fatorda police have no access to the CCTV footage from the cameras installed at public places across the town, with the cameras all down and out.
Inquiries by The Goan has revealed that while the company had repaired and replaced the 23 cameras, further promising to look after their maintenance, the timely upkeep and maintenance of the cameras could not take place for want of payments amounting to Rs 2-lakh odd by the civic body.
MMC officials, on the other hand, pushed the blame on the IT department for the delay in clearing the contractor’s payments, asserting the civic body cannot clear the payments without the nod from the IT department.
The result is there for all to see. All the 23 cameras, repaired and replaced in late 2020, are now all down and out for maintenance and payment of money.
Says a police official: “Saturday’s murder has been solved based on the footage of CCTV cameras installed by private establishments. The CCTV cameras installed by the private establishments came in handy to achieve a breakthrough in the murder case. It is high time the government intervenes to bring the city under the CCTV surveillance cameras in the interest of safety and security of its citizens.”
Reports indicate 23 CCTV cameras cannot be repaired
MARGAO: Latest reports indicate that the 23 CCTV cameras repaired and replaced in 2020 are all down and out and cannot be repaired and put to use.
Margao Municipal Chief Officer, Rohit Kadam, who has instructed the company to check the 23 cameras and give a status report, told The Goan that the company has got back to his office stating that the cameras cannot be repaired.
He said the contractor has informed him that the CCTV cameras as well as the cable needs to be totally replaced if the MMC intends to revive the project.
Kadam, however, told The Goan that his office is looking for an institution to sponsor the 23 cameras along with the cable as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). “I am in discussion with a couple of institutions to explore the possibility of reviving the CCTV project under CSR. The matter will be placed before the Council if the institutions agree to sponsor the cameras,” he added.
