Had approved installatn of 5,000 CCTVs in Mumbai: Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Jayant Patil

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Rural Development Minister, Jayant Patil, on Monday said that he had cleared a proposal to install 5,000 CCTVs across Mumbai, but did not know "what happened to it" subsequently.

Jayant Patil held the home portfolio for a brief while, after the current home minister R R Patil had to resign in the wake of 26/11 terror attacks in 2008.

"I had cleared the proposal of installing five thousand CCTVs across Mumbai when I was the state home minister, but what happened to it, I do not know," he said.

"Now the file is with R R Patil. Go and ask him," he quipped while talking to reporters here.

R R Patil is under fire after last week's blasts in Mumbai in which 19 people were killed.

Both R R Patil and Jayant Patil are from NCP, and hail from the Sangli district in western Maharashtra.

The Rural Development Minister was however quick to add that R R Patil "is doing a good job" as the state home minister now.

Stressing the importance of CCTV cameras, he said, "Police cannot be deployed everywhere, however CCTVs can be installed at vital locations, which can help police...Even if five thousand CCTVs are installed across the city, then too it will not be enough."

He also advised people to maintain "discipline" during the coming festive season, specifically during Janmashtami, popularly known as `Dahi Handi' in Maharashtra, which attracts huge crowds.

Patil, who is also a guardian minister of Mumbai, said in the wake of serial blasts, people should observe Janmashtami as a "Dry Day". Further, he said political parties should appeal the people to celebrate it in a low-key way.