After protests, CCTV cameras removed from civic panel hall

MUMBAI: The civic administration on Monday removed the CCTV cameras installed in the standing committee hall following objections raised by the ruling as well as opposition parties.
TOI had reported it first on its Sunday edition. The BMC had installed the two CCTV cameras as part of the renovation of its heritage building. According to civic precedent, recording or even clicking photos of the standing panel meetings are not allowed.Last week, when the hall was used for the first time after revamp, corporators didn’t notice the cameras. They realized it only when questioned about it by the media. Congress corporator and opposition leader Devendra Amberkar said it was against the civic customs.
In 2005, the then mayor Datta Dalvi got a speaker installed in his chamber, which was connected to the standing committee hall so that he could listen to the discussions. But the speaker had to be removed after objections from the Opposition.
In a meeting held in the mayor’s chamber on Monday, Yashodhar Phanse, chairman of the standing committee, demanded that the cameras be removed from the hall. “We have removed the cameras as the firm, which had installed them, is not aware of the civic protocol,” said a BMC official.
Aziz Amerliwala, an RTI activist from Andheri, said that the cameras should remain in the hall. “If corporators are discussing public issues, they should do so openly instead of closed-door meetings.”