BMC to spend Rs 52.34 lakh on more CCTV cameras at Tansa Dam after thefts

Transformers and welding cables have been stolen from the workshop and filter plant at Tansa Dam. Following the theft, a decision has been taken to install an additional CCTV system in the dam area. The Mumbai Municipal Corporation will spend Rs 52,34,452 on the work.

At present, CCTV cameras operate only at the dam's entrance gate, the Tansa yard, the SCADA room, the outlet well and some parts of the spillway. Some important machinery at the dam and part of the premises remain outside this surveillance. Unidentified thieves took advantage of this and carried off transformers and welding cables from the workshop and filter plant area. With no cameras near the workshop, tracing the thieves has been difficult.

Against this background, work will be taken up to set up an additional CCTV surveillance system at Tansa Dam in the extra-city division. The work covers all stages: design, supply, installation, testing and actual commissioning. The municipal administration will take the necessary action accordingly.

Mumbai is supplied about 4,100 million litres of water a day from various sources, and Tansa Dam accounts for an important share of it. The dam provides about 450 million litres a day to Mumbai residents. Keeping the city's water supply smooth therefore depends on the operation and maintenance of the dam, and the Mumbai municipal corporation is acting on this.

Tansa Dam is a masonry dam commissioned in 1892. It stands about 90 km from Mumbai in a dense forest area. The dam premises have several important facilities, including an inspection bungalow, the Modak bungalow, engineers' offices, a dispensary, a security post, a wireless control room, a store room, the outlet well, a small hydroelectric project and a workshop.

In short, the theft happened because the workshop and filter plant area lay outside surveillance, and the absence of cameras near the workshop made tracing the thieves harder. The municipal corporation will now spend Rs 52,34,452 to set up the additional CCTV system.