HC pulls up contractors for delay in installing CCTV cameras at police stns

Under fire for delaying the installation of CCTV cameras at police stations across Maharashtra one of the contractors for the project tried establishing his bona fide before the Bombay High Court on Friday stating that the cameras it had installed in New Delhi had helped the police identify the culprits in the 2020 northeast Delhi riotsJavi Systems India Pvt Ltd a Bengalurubased company made the submission before a bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Milind JadhavThe bench had directed Javi and the other contractor Punebased Sujata Computers to remain present in court on Friday to explain the delay in the workAs per the hearing while the installation of CCTV cameras was to be completed within 22 weeks from the date the contract was finalised in August last year the two contractors had installed only half of the targeted number of cameras and had sought 16 more weeks to complete the workMaharashtra Advocate General AG Ashutosh Kumbhakoni informed the court that the two contractors regretted the delay and were willing to give an undertaking explaining the same to give the court an idea of by when the work will be completedThe contractors further told the court that they had completed 65 per cent of the work commissioned and the rest will be done within eight to 10 daysKumbhakoni told the court that the contractors had done good work in the past and hence were selected by the state government for the Rs 65 crore projectTwo years ago the company did a city surveillance CCTV project for Delhi the counsel for Javi saidThey are saying that their system helped the Delhi administration identify the culprits in the Delhi riots the AG told the court about JaviThe High Court then asked why the state government had not chosen LampT which had installed the CCTV cameras at traffic signals across MumbaiIt is very awkward to say this in open court but LampT says that it doesnt engage in paan bidi shop work Rs 65 crore was too less for them Kumbhakoni saidThe court then interjected to say that it didnt care even if the budget was Rs 650 crore as long as the work was completedLet the budget be Rs 650 crore We dont mind But the project must be completed and the SC order must be complied with fully We just want the end result the bench saidWe are not at all satisfied with the way these contracts were given in the present case There were 13 more bidders and the only thing is that the bids by these two were considerably low and very similar to each other these two it saidThe High Court has sought the undertaking from the two contractors by March 15 the next date of hearingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever