Cable theft cripples 66 CCTVs across Coastal Road; BMC turns to HCC for long-term fix

MUMBAI: With repeated cable thefts crippling surveillance along almost the entire open stretch of Mumbai’s Coastal Road, the BMC has approached Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) to devise a long-term engineering solution, after Larsen & Toubro (L&T) declined the civic body’s request for technical assistance

MUMBAI: With repeated cable thefts crippling surveillance along almost the entire open stretch of Mumbai’s Coastal Road, the BMC has approached Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) to devise a long-term engineering solution, after Larsen & Toubro (L&T) declined the civic body’s request for technical assistance.

The BMC approached HCC, a Mumbai-headquartered engineering and construction company, in the first week of November, seeking its expertise in securing the CCTV network, which has remained largely non-functional for more than six months.

The move follows repeated thefts that have rendered all 66 cameras across the 10.58-km stretch, barring the tunnel, defunct. The surveillance failure came under spotlight after a speeding BMW plunged off the Coastal Road on September 20, killing three occupants and seriously injuring a fourth. The subsequent police investigation also highlighted the non-functional CCTV network.

The civic body had first approached L&T in the first week of September, nearly a fortnight before the crash, asking it to devise a comprehensive engineering solution to prevent cable thefts. L&T, which executed Packages 1 and 4 of the project, was asked to examine both wired and wireless alternatives. However, the company declined the request last month, maintaining that the operation and maintenance of CCTV cameras and associated cables were outside its contractual scope and had been separately assigned by the BMC.

Civic officials said the reasons for L&T’s decision were best known to the company, adding that its technical expertise had led the civic body to seek its intervention. HT reached out to L&T for comment but did not receive a response.

The BMC has now turned to HCC, which executed Package 2 in a joint venture with Hyundai Development Corporation, to explore a viable alternative.

The scale of the problem is considerable. According to civic officials, cables along certain stretches have had to be rebuilt or replaced two to three times. HCC, L&T and the operation and maintenance contractor have collectively filed around 20-25 FIRs in connection with the thefts. The BMC has replaced approximately 110 km of power cables so far and has also sought the intervention of senior police officers to curb the recurring incidents.

Theft-prone stretches are particularly vulnerable where the road is accessible from densely populated adjoining areas, including near Mahalaxmi Temple, Madrasi Wadi, Markandeshwar Temple and Worli. Even replacing copper power cables with aluminium ones has failed to deter thieves, civic officials said.

Among the solutions discussed earlier are laying cables underground and securing or interlinking them at frequent intervals to prevent thieves from removing long stretches at a time. GSM- or 4G-enabled wireless cameras are another possibility, although their feasibility would need to be established through trials.

The BMC is likely to test any proposed intervention on a pilot basis before extending it across the road.