Rs 2.70 cr wasted in installing CCTVs for traffic monitoring in Chennai

The project proposed by the then city traffic police commissioner envisaged installation of CCTV cameras at 40 junctions in the city to regulate vehicle movement from a central control room. The state government earmarked Rs 4.96 cr for the project under the World Bank-funded Tamil Nadu Urban Development Programme-III, but had to allocate Rs 3 cr from its own funds as the World Bank refused funds for the project. For the project, which had a delayed start in January 2011, the city traffic police paid almost 90 per cent (Rs 2.70 crore) of the entire budget to the contractor before December 2011 against the provisions of Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Rules, which mandates step-by-step disbursal of funds at different stages of the project.

Also, in December 2012, the then Additional Commissioner directed the contractor to install the CCTV cameras at Marina Beach, Elliot’s Beach, Koyambedu bus terminus and Flower Bazaar for law and order enforcement against the initial proposal, but the direction was withdrawn in March, 2013. It resulted in a stalemate, according the report. Though the contractor submitted a project completion report in 2015, it was rejected by the department. “The lapses on the part of CTP in contract management, including indecisiveness at critical junctions of the project had resulted in its failure,” it said