8 months on, no financial nod yet; installation of 2.7k cameras held up in Gurgaon

Gurgaon: The installation of 2,722 CCTV cameras at 258 locations across the city — under Phase-2 — has been delayed due to delay in financial sanction.

Eight months after eligible bidders were shortlisted, the second phase of the city's surveillance and adaptive traffic management project, estimated at Rs 160 crore, remains stalled as GMDA continues to await the green light from a high-powered committee. Under state rules, any infrastructure project above Rs 10 crore must be cleared by the works purchase committee.

Approved during GMDA's 10th authority meeting in June 2022, the Phase-2 plan was meant to enhance traffic regulation and boost urban safety. So far, GMDA has installed 1,200 cameras at 218 locations in the city and Manesar under Phase-1, which was completed in Aug 2022.

Safety and security clearly don't seem high on the govt's priority list. That is why despite administrative approvals and the tender process, the Phase-2 project has run into yet another bureaucratic hurdle — the lack of financial approval — after being held up for more than a year pending police clearance, which finally came in Oct 2023. According to GMDA officials, once the tender is finally awarded, it would take another 18 months for Phase-2 to be implemented.

The selected company will also be responsible for maintaining all equipment and bearing operational expenses for five years.

A tender was issued in March 2024 and five firms were found technically eligible by Oct, but the file hasn't moved further. Since Oct last year, several other infrastructure projects for the city received the govt nod, but the CCTV rollout was left out.

A GMDA official said, "The technical process is complete and we have submitted the case for placing before the high-powered works purchase committee. We are now awaiting govt approval."

The indefinite delay in implementing Phase-2 has cast a shadow over the third phase of the surveillance project, which aimed to further strengthen the city's public safety camera network. The Phase-3 was approved by the state govt in July last year. The project, estimated at Rs 422 crore, proposes the installation of 10,000 more cameras at 2,000 additional locations, including public places, high-footfall areas, community spaces and govt buildings under this phase.

GMDA has now said that the requirement for CCTV Phase-3 will be reworked based on actual coverage in Phases 1 and 2 and inputs from the concerned department, after Phase-2 is implemented. A GMDA official said, "We can only proceed with the Phase-3 planning once Phase-2 is implemented. This will give us an idea of how and where additional coverage is required."

In Nov last year, GMDA planned to hire an agency to conduct a citywide survey to identify the necessary infrastructure and pinpoint suitable camera locations. But that too was shelved. In Feb this year, the authority cancelled the tender for hiring the agency.