Project funded by MLA Development Fund, 38 cameras installed on key road stretch
Closed-circuit TV surveillance cameras are back in action in the Fatorda area of the commercial capital.
MARGAO
After a decade, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras are back in action in the Fatorda area of the commercial capital.
Motorists as well as passers-by have come across CCTV cameras installed on poles on the busy Gogol-Borda road under the MLA Development Fund of Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai.
While senior traffic police officials initially pointed out that they had no idea as to who had installed the cameras, realisation has now dawned that the cameras have been funded under the MLA Development scheme.
The Fatorda MLA informed that he has decided to spend Rs 25 lakh from the MLA fund to finance 38 cameras on the stretch of road from the St Joaquim Circle (Bolshe Circle) to the Mutt area.
The contractor is presently laying a cable to connect the cameras to the Fatorda Traffic Police Station for monitoring. “Once commissioned, the traffic police will challan vehicles parked in an unauthorised manner on the road stretch from St Joaquim Circle to the Mutt area. This is the stretch of road I have had widened to ease traffic congestion by convincing the owner to donate the land for road widening," Sardesai said.
"The land donated may run into crores of rupees. The land was donated by the owner at my request for parking of buses and other vehicles, but to streamline traffic on the busy road,” he added.
The Fatorda MLA said the remaining roads in the constituency, which are prone to traffic congestion and haphazard parking, will be brought under the CCTV lens in the near future.
The last time the entire commercial capital was brought under the lens of the "big brother" was exactly a decade ago, when the CCTV cameras funded under the MPLAD scheme of former South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha were installed across the city. The project, however, turned defunct for want of upkeep and maintenance by the local civic body.
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Funding hurdles stall CCTV project in Margao market area
MARGAO: Hazard a guess on the status of the Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance cameras proposed with much fanfare in the market areas of the Commercial Capital.
Well, fund constraints seem to have once again come in the way of the ambitious project aimed at bringing the city’s congested market area under the lens of Big Brother.
While the Margao Municipal Council had given the go-ahead for the CCTV surveillance cameras project, the funding aspect seems to have come in the way of the project. Sources in the know informed that rough estimates have pegged the cost at a whopping Rs 55 lakh to install the CCTV cameras in the market area.
A revenue-sharing proposal to recover the cost of the CCTV project seems not to have got the official nod for the simple reason that a percentage of the fines on traffic violators goes to the State Road Safety Fund.
Left with no option, sources said officials of the Margao Municipal Council have sought the intervention of Margao MLA Digambar Kamat with a plea to get government funds to finance the CCTV cameras project or take up the project under the Home Department.
“We will have to wait for some time to resolve the issue of funding the CCTV surveillance cameras project. Since the project involves huge funds, it has been decided to seek government intervention to finance the project,” informed a senior official in the know.
He added: “The MMC may also seek funds under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to finance the long-delayed project. There’s a dire need to bring the market area under the CCTV surveillance project not only to keep traffic violators at bay, but also from the crime point of view.”
