MAPUSA
The alleged sexual assault of a four-year-old girl in the heart of Mapusa has once again brought the town’s defunct CCTV surveillance network under scrutiny, raising serious questions about public safety and the prolonged failure of the municipal administration to put an effective monitoring system in place.
With the accused still at large, the absence of functional CCTV cameras in key parts of the town and its busy market has become particularly glaring. What should have been an important surveillance tool for the police in tracking movements and identifying suspects is instead a glaring example of years of administrative neglect.
Cameras installed,
but left to decay
The Mapusa Municipal Council had installed seven CCTV cameras in the municipal market in 2015, followed by another eight cameras at strategic locations across the town in 2018. The initiative was undertaken following repeated requests from the police, with the objective of monitoring public movement, preventing crime and assisting investigations.
The cameras were installed at several important locations, including in front of the Sirsat building, near the Shakuntala statue, at the four roads leading into the market, Gandhi Chowk, both entrances of the Kadamba bus stand, outside Braganza Hotel, Hutatma Chowk, near Syndicate Bank, the taxi stand and the old interstate bus stand.
However, due to the council's failure to maintain and repair the equipment, the cameras installed in the market stopped functioning in 2019, while those covering the town became defunct in 2021. Since then, the surveillance network has remained virtually non-existent.
Despite repeated requests and reminders from the police to restore the cameras, the municipal board, officials and engineering department have failed to act. The once-functional surveillance infrastructure has consequently been reduced to little more than ornamental installations.
MMC Chief Officer Kaushik Desai said the council had prepared a proposal for installing CCTV cameras across Mapusa and submitted it to North Goa MP Shripad Naik under the MPLAD scheme for approval.
He expressed hope that the proposal would receive approval soon.
Crime incidents, but
no surveillance
The absence of surveillance has had implications beyond the present child assault case.
In October 2025, an armed robbery was reported at the residence of Dr Mahendra Kamat Ghanekar in Ganeshpuri. Several other incidents of theft and house-breaking have also been reported in Ganeshpuri, the Housing Board area, Peddem and different parts of Mapusa over the past year.
Yet, despite repeated incidents bringing the issue into focus, the authorities have failed to translate assurances into action. The issue resurfaces after every major crime, only to disappear from the administrative agenda once public attention subsides.
The incident involving the four-year-old girl has therefore brought into sharp focus a question that Mapusa's civic authorities have been unable to answer for years: Why does a town that has repeatedly witnessed serious crimes continue to remain without a functional public CCTV surveillance network?
