MARGAO
Who’s responsible for the repair and maintenance of the defunct closed circuit TV cameras in the commercial capital? This question has come to the fore as neighbouring Fatorda is bracing up to install around 196 CCTV cameras within a month or two.
What’s interesting to note is the fact that while the Margao Municipal Council had a couple of months ago adopted a resolution to repair the defunct cameras and look after its upkeep and maintenance, but not a single camera stands repaired till date for reasons best known to the civic body and District Collectorate
officials.
When The Goan contacted Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai to shed light on the status of the defunct cameras, she said the same haven’t been handed over to the civic body by the the district Collector. “When Swapnil Naik was the District Collector, South, and was holding additional charge as MMC Chief Officer, the municipality had showed its willingness to repair the CCTV cameras on condition that these are handed over to the civic body. Till date, however, the cameras have still not been handed over to the civic body and the deadlock remains,” she said.
It could not be ascertained whether the Margao municipality had officially communicated to the Collector to hand over the cameras to the civic body and whether the Collecorate has been sitting on the file for the last several months.
Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes pointed out that since he has joined duty only recently, he has no idea whether the municipality had sent a communication to the District Collector to hand over the CCTV cameras. “I will check up with the Municipality when did the civic body write to the District Collector to hand over the CCTV cameras for maintenance,” Johnson said.
Sources in the traffic police said the MMC should show some urgency in the matter since the CCTV cameras could have been effectively used to check motor vehicle violations in the commercial capital.
