Tender flaw delays new CCTV cameras at Swargate bus stand

Pune: Eight out of 47 new CCTV cameras are yet to be installed at Swargate bus terminus because of a lapse in the tender process, almost a year after a woman was raped at the facility.A senior officer of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) said a total of 32 new CCTV cameras were to be installed in the bus stand and 15 in the depot. "A tender was floated earlier without including the plan to set up a command control centre. The CCTV cameras would be useless without proper monitoring. Hence, it was cancelled and a fresh tender was floated in October. The work is being done at war pace now," the officer said.The installation of new CCTV cameras was proposed after a woman was raped inside a parked bus at Swargate stand in the early hours of Feb 25 last year. The accused, identified as Dattatray Gade, was arrested later.Another senior MSRTC official said, "By the end of the month, all cameras will be installed and operational. The 24 old CCTV cameras have been removed."Many commuters are cut up with the slow installation of the promised CCTV cameras . "The installation of new CCTV cameras, most crucial for safety, remains incomplete a year after the tragedy. It is a testament to the fact as to how serious the authorities are and if they learned a lesson from the rape," regular commuter Yogesh Patange said.MSRTC's divisional controller, Pune, Arun Siya said, "All new CCTV cameras have been connected to the command control centre at the depot and the head office in Mumbai. The monitoring has begun too."Siya also told TOI that a permanent police chowkey had come up at the bus stand. "Now police personnel are there round-the-clock," the senior officer said.A section of commuters questioned MSRTC's sense of urgency about the project. "Recently, Pune witnessed a big cycling event. Within weeks, many new roads were constructed. The same kind of urgency should have been shown after a woman was sexually assaulted at a busy bus stand. One still feels unsafe at Swargate bus stand during the late evening hours because of the presence of many autorickshaw drivers and agents of private bus operators," said working professional Yashwant Jogi.