Reason: the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, considered to be among the richest civic bodies in the country with about Rs 400 crore annual budget, has expressed its inability to giveRs 3 crore to the police.

The traffic police had proposed to install rotating video cameras on as many as 25 busy traffic intersections in the city. This had been proposed not only to keep a round-the-clock watch on the traffic violators but also to keep a tab on vehicles which cause accidents and flee away from the spot. If this plan materialises, the police could keep a watch on the traffic and violators by sitting in a remote area through cameras. It was proposed to connect these rotating video cameras to the police control room through internet.

The traffic police had reportedly conducted a survey of the city and had identified as many as 25 crossroads where there is heavy rush of vehicles during the day. This system is already in place in some metro cities across the country. If city police gets the grant then the city would have become the first one in this part of the country to have the facility.

For this, the police needed Rs 3 crore, which would have been financed by the state government and the Municipal Corporation. But the civic body has expressed its inability to pay this amount to the police for the time being.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Urban) RK Jaiswal confirmed that the Municipal Corporation had expressed its inability to pay the amount. “The plan has been shelved for the time being. Though we are hopeful that it will materialise at some later stage, it cannot be said when this project will take off,” SSP Jaiswal added.