Dinesh Kamath's news item 'NMMT buses need repair and not CCTV cameras, say commuters' that was published in Newsband

NMMT buses need repair and not CCTV cameras, say commuters

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: A few days back, Mayor Sagar Naik had announced that NMMC would allot one crore rupees for installing CCTV cameras in NMMT buses. This move by the mayor has invited criticisms from regular NMMT bus commuters.

According to these commuters, instead of allotting one crore rupees for installation of CCTV cameras, the same amount could have been used for repairing of all the rickety NMMT buses. Many NMMT buses are in a horrible condition in the sense that either they have broken window panes and door handles or they have some technical snags or the seats are torn. These buses are badly in need of repair work. Also many roads on which these buses ply are full of potholes and hence badly need repair. The commuters say that it would have been worthwhile if the money that has been allotted for CCTV cameras was used for repairing of the buses as well as the roads.

Technical snags in NMMT buses have proved to be a headache for commuters. If these buses stop functioning while ferrying the commuters owing to technical snags, the commuters have to face untold miseries. They have to get down from the bus and try to catch another vehicle. They have to purchase ticket again. Not only their money is wasted but also they have to face a lot of inconvenience. These problems can also lead to their reaching the destination late. The school and college children find such happenings troublesome since they can’t afford to reach their institution late, especially when their examinations are in progress. Even the office goers have to reach their offices on time and if the NMMT buses suffer breakdown, they have to face embarrassing situations at their workplaces. Even the women folk and senior citizens find it troublesome to travel by problematic NMMT buses.

NMMT authorities should realize that repairing of their buses is of primary importance and having CCTV cameras in their buses is not that important. But NMMT authorities claim that they have complained several times to NMMC authorities about the poor condition of many of their buses and yet instead of allotting funds for repairing of those buses, NMMC has come up with the idea of allotting one crore rupees for installing CCTV cameras in these buses. This is ridiculous and it has invited the wrath of many commuters of NMMT buses who have undergone negative experiences sometimes or the other while commuting by these buses.

It is true that CCTV cameras can be helpful to detect criminals who choose NMMT buses to commit crimes. But if you go by past records lying with the city police, there are not many crimes taking place in NMMT buses. Yes, some crimes do take sometimes or the other in these buses but not always. So what is the big idea of installing CCTV cameras in NMMT buses where the commuters feel harassed by the poor conditions of the buses more than the crimes that occur in it. Yes, it would have been a good idea to install CCTV cameras only after all the damaged buses were totally repaired. The NMMC authorities should do the first thing first.