ITMS setback? Firm in charge gets GDA notice

GHAZIABAD: In yet another setback to the upcoming Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project in the city, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has issued a show-cause notice to the firm that was entrusted with the responsibility to install the system. The move came after the company was blacklisted in Bhopal, on the recommendation of the police department, for failing to carry out maintenance work of the ITMS.
Confirming the decision, the GDA’s vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma said, “The pace at which the company has been working was not found to be satisfactory. Besides, in Bhopal — where it had installed the ITMS — it has been blacklisted for a period of one year. We are told that the firm was found to be in violation of the agreement.”
In the show-cause notice, the Authority has asked the company to give reasons why the agreement should not be cancelled on the mentioned grounds.
Neeraj Kushwaha, the director of Technosys Security Systems (P) Ltd, said: “There were some issues with the Bhopal police over the maintenance clause and we were blacklisted. However, we had approached the court, which gave a ruling in our favour.”
“About the issue regarding the delay in ITMS installation in Ghaziabad, we have already started work on the Hindon Elevated Road and there are more ITMS corridors where work is going on. But, we have been faced with the issue of lack of support from the department and the agencies, that has resulted in a delay. This has been duly informed to the officials concerned,” added Kushwaha.
Notably, the foundation stone of ITMS project was laid down by Prime Minister Narender Modi in March last year. The ITMS in Ghaziabad promises to take traffic management to the next level with almost negligible human interface. Some of the highlights include automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), 360 surveillance cameras, red light violation detection (RLVD) cameras etc.
In January, the pillars being constructed for the project by the company in Sahibabad were damaged by unidentified miscreants. This was followed by allegations made by BJP councillor Rajender Tyagi that the firm and the GDA deliberately worked towards inflating the cost.
Tyagi had alleged that a total of 112 roundabouts/corridors were selected after the survey conducted by the GMC and the traffic department for the installation of the ITMS, out of which 31 have become redundant because of the NH-9 widening project and the RRTS project.