Pakistan attack prompts BMC schools to get CCTVs

Following the recent terror attack on Army School in Pakistan, the education committee of the BMC on Tuesday decided to install CCTVs at the entrance and in the premises of all municipal schools.

A member of the education committee informed that provisions for the cameras would be made in the budget for the next financial year. At present, there are 1,180 civic schools in the city, with around 4.5 lakh students enrolled.
Last year, after a female student was molested at one of the civic schools, the demand to install CCTVs was raised. However, the proposal was in limbo since then.

Mumbai has a history of terror activities, and the recent one at Peshawar seems to have prompted the civic administration to wake up from a slumber.

Once the budget allocation is done regarding the matter, the work of setting up the equipment on priority basis would be done in stages. BMC's education committee chairman Vinod Shelar said: "Currently, there are only security guards manning the schools and usage of CCTVs would bolster security."

Nitin Wadhwani of NGO Citizens Association of Child Rights, which works for municipal schools in Mumbai, welcomed the move, but said the civic body should ensure maintenance of the cameras.

Speaking about the upkeep of the equipment, Wadhwani said: "The BMC had installed CCTVs in several places, many of which are near railway stations, but most of them do not work. Installing them is a good initiative, but it will be a wastage of public money if they are not maintained properly."