Nagpur's vital installations exposed to threat as CCTVs stopped functioning

NAGPUR: The city’s vital and sensitive installations were without the protection of CCTV coverage on Wednesday, as the private operator stopped CCTV servers over pending payment issues. This deprived city cops and administration of access to the footage from 3,700 cameras across the city.
City police and civic administration were left puzzled after the private operator decided to disconnect the CCTV servers in the city, making it highly vulnerable from security point of view.
A senior official from Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited confirmed that the firm engaged in operating the surveillance system has stopped video system of the Command and Control Centre over outstanding payments.
“Just video was on, system was off. Our access to video footage was stalled but surveillance system across the city is on,” the official claimed. Cameras installed at important squares, roads, WiFi service etc were all working and even the recording was going on. The official claimed that payments to the private firm are being done from MahaIT office in Mumbai.
Sources in the police department said a senior citizen was robbed by a chain snatcher in central Nagpur but cops were left clueless about the robbery. “Citizens have been left exposed to the threat of street crimes and cops have little clue to trace perpetrators,” said a cop.
Even traffic cops were left in a tight spot as they could not get any backup from the command and control system.
CP Amitesh Kumar said the matter is being sorted out at the government level. “We have requested the vendor not to take such a drastic decision unilaterally, which may jeopardize the city’s security,” he said.