100 bus stands in Delhi may soon get CCTVs at the cost of Rs 1.87cr, trials on

Cameras have been installed at the bus stand at Tilak Marg and near Delhi Secretariat this week and will be tested for two months.

Bus stands in the city are soon going to be under surveillance. The Delhi government has begun a trial run of CCTV cameras at two places.

The 100 stops will be mostly those located in deserted or obscure locations. The cost of installing the cameras is estimated to be Rs 1.87 crore. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Cameras have been installed at the bus stand at Tilak Marg and near Delhi Secretariat this week and will be tested for two months. “The plan is to install CCTV cameras at 100 bus queue shelters (BQSs) in the first phase of the project. We hope the ongoing trial run is successful, and that the cameras are not stolen or damaged,” said transport minister Kailash Gahlot.

The 100 stops will be mostly those located in deserted or obscure locations. The cost of installing the cameras is estimated to be Rs 1.87 crore.

The move, he said, will not only ensure public safety, especially that of women but will also help transport agencies to check the practices of bus drivers and conductors. “Not halting the bus at the designated spot, but close to the bus stop not only leads to chaos and congestion on roads, but it also poses a challenge to the differently abled, senior citizens, women and children. The cameras will help us correct these errors,” the minister added.

This will be in addition to the project of fixing CCTV cameras inside buses which was approved in June by the Delhi Cabinet.

The national capital may soon have new bus stands as the Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC) Limited has floated fresh tenders for building 1,397 bus queue shelters across the city, said a transport department official.

At present, the capital has 1,864 BQSs, of which 1,321 are managed by the DTIDC, 346 by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and 197 by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

This time, tenders for the bus shelters have been divided into four clusters.

In 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party government had announced it would build 1,200 modern stainless steel BQSs across the national capital, but the tender failed to attract bidders.

“Bidders were not coming forward despite floating multiple tenders. So, it was felt that the cost of bus shelters should come down, as a result of which they are being redesigned now,” the official said. Usually the cost of building a BQS is Rs 22 lakh.

Earlier too, two tenders were floated — one in November 2013 and the other in June 2014. But, none worked out as bidders were not happy with the revenue model which relied primarily on advertisements.

Bus stands in Delhi were last developed ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010 by the then Sheila Dikshit government. Over 1,500 shelters were developed and modernised at that time.