*Close Circuit Televisions at major crossings do now work

* Neither do most of the simputers. In case they do, officers find them too complex to operate.

But that has not deterred the Kolkata police from putting forward a fresh blueprint for development.

Another dose of heavy funding — Rs 15 crore — is on way. With the money, the police plan to get more simputers and 12 more CC TVs.

Automatic vehicle tracking and area surveillance, high-tech bomb disposal equipment and more vehicles are on the wishlist too.

Sanction has been sought for a GIS-based vehicle tracking system and other hi-tech surveillance equipment.

“We are trying to modernise the force as fast as we can. I am certainly not happy with what happened so far. But we are trying hard to catch up with the gadgets and sophisticated equipment,” said Gautam Mohan Chakravarty, the Commissioner of Kolkata Police.

The idea behind introducing simputers in June 2007 was to speed up the process of penalising traffic rule violators. The sergeants were to issue a simputer-generated receipt for the fine, mentioning all details.

Each machine cost Rs 19,500. The mini printer cost Rs 5,600 each. Around 200 simputers were introduced to traffic sergeants at 11 spots. Nearly 220 traffic sergeants were trained to use it.

But soon after introduction, about 50 units developed snags and were dumped at Lalbazar police headquarters. The rest are seldom used.

The Indian Express team visited a traffic guard for a demonstration of the device. The simputer and the mini printer were found lying in a locker, covered in dust.

It took the officer over 45 minutes to fill up details like name and vehicle number and then plug it into the printer.

“This is not easy since the gadget is fragile and comes with a cumbersome printer,” he said. Frequent malfunctions are common and the touchscreen often falters.

“One has to keep in mind that we have to stand in the road near busy crossings. It is far easier to write challans manually. The gadgets are unpopular and most of us do not use it, except when higher officials visit,” he added.

Equally sad is the fate of CCTV cameras installed at 12 major crossings in 2005. Costing Rs 1 lakh each, the cameras were aimed at tracking movement of people on roads. A majority broke down frequently. At present, only six are said to be working. The recording quality is also bad.