Chennai: Installation of CCTVs at railway stations may miss deadline

Chennai: Installation of CCTVs at railway stations aimed at improving the safety of women passengers using the Nirbhaya fund is yet to begin despite having been announced for completion by December-end.

Following the railway security system’s flaws highlighted by Infosys techie Swathi’s murder in June at a railway station, 82 railway stations under the Chennai division that were supposed to have got CCTV surveillance by December end, are yet to get work started after the project was transferred to RailTel, a public sector undertaking.

In July, the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Chennai division had announced that by December 2016, 101 stations across Tamil Nadu would come under surveillance system of CCTV cameras for enhanced security, after Swathi was killed at Nungambakkam railway station in June. The lack of a surveillance system had led to police spend weeks searching for her killer who was absconding.

The Union ministry of railways had allocated Rs 67.94 crore from the Nirbhaya fund for the installation of CCTVs across stations in the Southern Railway. Of this, Rs. 40.6 crore would be utilized for installation of CCTVs at 82 stations in Chennai.

After the Signal and Telecom (S&T) department of the Southern Railway raised tenders for the same, the Railway Board passed on the responsibility of setting up CCTV cameras to RailTel, a public sector undertaking (PSU) that provides telecom infrastructure.

“We had raised tenders to invite parties to start the installation of CCTV cameras but the project was handed over to RailTel and we had to cancel the tenders,” said a senior railway official.

Another security official told Deccan Chronicle that under the Integrated Surveillance System (ISS), large stations like Chennai Central, Egmore, Tambaram, Chennai Beach, Mambalam, and Park had been provided additional cameras. “As far as the remaining 82 stations are concerned, RailTel has been assigned the responsibility along with the pan-India installation of CCTVs that they will be undertaking,” he added.

Officials from the PSU, however, said they are working on the plan for carrying out installations all across India but the work is yet to begin. “As of now, the work has not started in the Chennai division. But we will be starting work soon, maybe in a week or two,” said an official from RailTel.

When asked about the December 2016 deadline for installation of the cameras, the official replied that work will begin soon and installation will begin at stations like Nungambakkam that are vulnerable and have seen violent incidents in the past.