Sea link to get 70 more CCTV cameras

In the next two months, Bandra-Worli Sea Link will get more eyes for security, surveillance and monitoring. By November, the bridge will have an additional 70 closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs).

As an immediate measure to check incidents of suicides from the sea link, more security guards will be posted. This was decided in a joint meeting of Mumbai Police, the traffic police, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and the sea link's toll-collection agency.

"Currently, there are four guards in every shift and this will now be increased to six per shift," said Jayant Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director of Mumbai Entry Points Limited, the toll-collection agency for the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

The authorities maintain that it is impractical to post security guards every 50-100 metres to prevent halting of vehicles on the bridge.

Speaking about putting up safety nets on the sides and below the carriageway, Mhaiskar said, "People would still be able to walk or crawl on the nets to jump into the sea. It will only prolong the time taken to commit suicide. This may provide with a little more time to rush to the point to rescue the individual."

Furthermore, the safety nets cannot be put up immediately since an environment clearance will have to be secured for additional works on the structure of the bridge.

"There should be strict implementation of penalties for halting on the bridge. This is one of the points decided in today's meeting," added Mhaiskar.

There have been four incidents of suicide from the sea link in the past three weeks.