CCTV Cameras, Panic Buttons in over 6,000 DTC buses to cost Rs 140 crore to Delhi govt

The money for the plan to install CCTV cameras in 6000 Delhi buses, will come from the Nirbhaya Fund.

Wednesday, June 21: The Delhi Cabinet has approved a plan to install close-circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in 6,000 buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) plying on routes across the capital city. The project is expected to cost the Corporation a total of Rs 140 crore, media reports said on Wednesday. The plan was approved in a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday, and the money for the project will come from the Nirbhaya Fund.

The Fund was named after the 23-year-old paramedical student, who was brutalized and gang raped in a moving bus in December 2012 in Delhi. The girl was given the pseudonym Nirbhaya after the details of the ghastly rape trickled out and horrified the country. The move is reportedly meant to ensure safety of women who have to commute long distances in state-run buses.

A proposal to authorize the DTC call tenders and sign the agreement to install CCTV cameras in a total of 6,350 buses, including some cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal System (DIMTS), had earlier been submitted by the Delhi Transport Department. A report in DNA quoted a senior government official as saying,  “The project will be funded by the Centre’s Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD). The DTC will appoint the Bid Process Manager through open tender enquiry.”

Speaking about the decision, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, The Delhi Cabinet has taken an important decision towards creating a safe and secure environment for the public, especially women, in Delhi. This measure would impart a feeling of security to women using public transport.” A total of three IP CCTV cameras have been approved to be installed in each bus and the same will be maintained for the next give years, said the DNA report. Along with the cameras, panic buttons will also be installed to enable women in distress to call for help.

Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has drawn up a detailed list of specifications for CCTV cameras under the project ‘National Level Vehicle Security and Tracking System’, and the DTC CCTV cameras will have features that are either equivalent or higher to the stipulated specifications, the official told DNA.