Cameras gone dud, Thiruvananthapuram corporation pays

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A huge portion of the optical fibre cables connecting the cameras installed to monitor waste dumping in Amayizhanchan canal had got damaged after having caught fire long ago.  It is learnt that even now the corporation has been paying electricity charges for the cameras that do not work.
It was a year ago that officials inspecting the cables found out the extent of damage. “One of the portions which were burnt was 5-kilometre-long.

It was not possible to find out who did it as the ones who set it on  fire need not have chosen a point near the camera. We are not sure if someone deliberately did it.  If someone had burnt waste on the road, the heat generated could have sparked off a fire in the cable as well,” says an official.    Every time  someone points out that a camera needs repair, officials often take the stance that it will at least deter offenders. However corporation’s officials do not have any examples which prove this. “Most of the time, the resolution of a camera will be limited and cannot go beyond 150 metres. It won’t be able to capture people who hurl garbage bags from a distance. Many wear helmets. Cameras do not deter anyone,” says an official.

The Amayizhanchan canal cameras were installed after about  Rs 53 lakh was spent by KSUDP. The repair could cost Rs 1 lakh. Another set of cameras along Killi river has  been finally repaired. But its monitoring is done at police control room, where the staff are  already burdened with the monitoring duty of 225 other cameras.  The police find it difficult to keep  an eye on who is dumping waste.