Bengaluru: BMTC is installing CCTV cameras that are capable of live-streaming videos in 1,000 buses to ensure safety of women passengers. Though the announcement had been made earlier, the project had been stalled due to lack of funds. Since the transport corporation has received funds from the central government, it is going ahead with it now.
BMTC has been allotted Rs 56 crore under Nirbhaya Fund. “The cameras will be installed in a few months, and we have received a good response to CCTV cameras in other buses. They have acted as a deterrent and prevented miscreants and bus staff from behaving rudely with women. They have also curbed pickpocketing," a senior BMTC official told Deccan Chronicle.
According to a BMTC reply to a Right to Information Act (RTI) query, copy of which is with Deccan Chronicle, only 500 buses were fitted with CCTV cameras in 2014 at a cost of Rs 3.4 crore. Those CCTVs cannot live-stream videos and the footage can be stored only for two weeks.
