BMC to set up ward-level CCTV to monitor Illegal dumping of waste

BMC staff at the disaster management cell monitor the heavy rainfall on August 2. Pic credit/Atul Kamble

Illegal dumping of debris, garbage going unnoticed? Or a flood prone area? Soon, your local ward office will have its own disaster control room where it will keep an eye on ward 24x7. Last week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Praveen Pardeshi directed the disaster management cell to set up video walls, much like the one at the headquarters at CST, at the ward level. The disaster cell has already written to the state government asking how much a project of this level
will cost.

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Currently, the BMC and state home department collaborate on the video walls with live feed coming in from the 5,000 CCTV cameras set up by the state home department and being monitored by the BMC. The video wall at the CST office - six metre length and 1.5 metres width - cost R3.17 crore (including a five, yearly maintenance contract) which was borne by the BMC. However, the ward level expense is expected to be 24 times this amount.

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Currently, the feed is directly monitored by the disaster cell and, in case of an incident, a notification is sent to the local ward office. The new, localised plan, will hopefully cut the time lag and improve efficiency. Assistant municipal commissioners of all 24 wards have been asked to identify 500 critical locations where CCTVs should be set up and the BMC will intimate the state about this list.

A senior civic official said, "We have written to the state government asking for a cost estimate as 24 video walls will have to be set up and additional cameras too." The chief officer of Disaster Management Cell, Mahesh Narvekar was not available for comment.

500
No. of new critical locations that local ward officers will identify for CCTVs

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