Mumbai:
It has been eight months since the northern carriageway of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) was opened. But till date, not a single CCTV camera has been installed to monitor traffic there.
When contacted, senior Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officials admitted that there were no CCTV cameras on the northern carriageway. "However, the cameras on the southern carriageway are capable of checking objects, as they rotate 360 degrees," said an official requesting anonymity. "We are in the process of augmenting the entire security system of the sea link, which will be the primary responsibility of the consortium which is constructing the Worli-Haji Ali Sea Link [Reliance Infrastructure and Hyundai]."
However, the official accepted that the existing cameras are not powerful enough to read number plates of cars and are meant for vigilance and traffic management.
The day US president Barack Obama visited the city, a man jumped to death from the sea link. Though some MSRDC officials claimed that the man was spotted by CCTV cameras, the toll operator said the visuals were not clear.
In 2009, the then police commissioner D Sivanandan wrote two letters to top officials of the (MSRDC), which owns the sea link, demanding funds worth Rs50 crore to make the BWSL fully secured. However, till date, no advanced equipment has been installed.
After much deliberation, the MSRDC had recently floated tenders for procuring security equipment. However, the tender is taking too much time to be finalised, as the bidders have asked for some technical specifications.
According to officials, the scanners, which need to be installed at the toll plaza on the Bandra side, will -- for the first time in the world -- scan vehicles as well as passengers.
"This process involves exposure to radiation. We have asked for help from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). All bidders will have to pass tests for the permissible level of radiation. Once this process is taken care of, we will go ahead with the bidding process," added an official.
Efkons, the company that installed all the software for the sea link, has still not finalised the On Board Unit (OBU) facility. With an OBU fitted on the car's dashboard, the motorist can go through the toll plaza and the toll is deducted. Sources said payment issues are primarily responsible for the sea link being technically poor
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