Skylark seeks 60 cameras for e-way

GURUGRAM: Skylark, the operator of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, has sought 60 night-vision cameras to monitor the e-way. In 2015, Millennium City Expressway Private Limited (MCEPL), the NHAI-appointed e-way concessionaire, had installed 12 high-definition (HD) cameras on the expressway. However, at any point of time, only nine of them are functional due to frequent power cuts on the stretch.

Col. Subhash Yadav, the general manager of Skylark said, “There is no power back-up on the e-way and the cameras stop working during power cuts.” He added that the HD cameras also did not have night vision. “The cameras are high-definition (HD) and rotate 360 degrees, every 1.5 minutes. But if a crime takes place at a particular junction, we don’t get the full picture as the rotation is automatic and there is no way to stop it. What we need are bullet cameras that don’t rotate but have night vision. At least four such cameras are needed at every busy junction. We think that around 60 cameras would be sufficient to monitor the expressway,” he said.

Another problem, according to Skylark, is that the HD cameras have been installed at such a height that they can’t read a car’s number plate or spot any details in the footage. Especially, what happens during the night stays unclear. The HD cameras were installed on the RTR flyover, the Mahipalpur flyover, near the T1 loop, at IGI and Rajokri, in front of Leela Hotel in Delhi, at Udyog Vihar, Sector 31, Jharsha Chowk, Signature Towers and Rajiv Chowk, and the Hero Honda Chowk flyover.

According to MCEPL officials, there is no proposal to get new cameras. “Earlier, we had put 12 HD cameras on the e-way. There is no need to buy new cameras,” said an official