Even after four years have passed since the 26/11 terror attack, the installation of 6,000 CCTVs in Mumbai remains on paper. The Congress-led government had cancelled an earlier request for proposals (RFP) on technical grounds in July end and invited fresh RFP in a bid to give another chance for more players to participate in the process. The government has received in all 31 RFPs including the Tata group, Wipro, IBM, Reliance Industries, Reliance ADAG, L&T, CMC, Siemens and SIS.
A senior minister, who did not want to be named, told Business Standard, "These bidders have submitted over 850 querries relating to the formation of consortium, nature and operation of bandwith, and transmission. The government has prepared replies for all these questions and will meet with the bidders in mid-December to further discuss various issues. Subsequently, bidders will be asked to submit technical bids which will be scrutinised by a technical committee consisting of IT experts and IIT Mumbai director."
The minister said tenders would be invited from the shortlisted bidders by mid January. "The government hopes to award the tender to the lowest bidder by February," he added.
The minister said the installation of 6,000 CCTVs would have to be done within a period of five years from the award of contract. The project includes installation of video analytics and management, data preservation centres, and six command and control centres. These would eventually be integrated with fire and ambulance services in the city. With the completion of this project, Mumbai is expected to have its own version of ‘Call-911-for any-emergency’ number. CCTVs would be monitored through remote and cable connectivity. The deployment of computerised video surveillance would facilitate effective management as it will ease incident detection. There is a clause of fine and penalty in case the CCTV fails to provide results, The state has proposed allocation of Rs 500 crore for this project.
According to the minister, CCTV would be used at both private and public locations including malls and hotels. Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh admitted that there was delay in the installation of 6,000 CCTVs across Mumbai. He however, hoped that the installation would begin in next two months.
A state government official recalled that during the earlier round the government had received RFPs from the Information technology (IT) services and solutions providers Wipro, CMC Ltd, Allied Digital and ECIL. However, the government scrapped the entire process and decided to invite fresh RFPs. The government had appointed Pricewaterhouse Coopers as consultants for the CCTV project.
The Ram Pradhan Committee, which looked into the role of the police and administration after the November 2008 attack in Mumbai, had sought installation of CCTV cameras as a preventive step.