The Buddha head that went missing from Indian Museum

Electronic surveillance at Indian Museum has come to a nought because of frequent power cuts.

?There was no electricity for two hours on Thursday last week. The day after, power was off for more than an hour. It?s really difficult to guard more than 40 galleries without electricity,? a museum official complained on Wednesday.

The power cuts threw the guards into a tizzy, as the closed-circuit TV sets, indispensable for a museum where the security wing is grossly understaffed, could not be operated.

The guards have become more apprehensive following the theft of a Buddha head from the Archaeology Long gallery and the subsequent arrest of Satyakam Sen, a senior technical assistant.

Against a sanctioned strength of 72, the museum now has only 40 guards. Thirty-two posts have been lying vacant for the past few years.

?It?s impossible to guard more than 40 galleries with only 40 guards. They are working overtime to protect the priceless exhibits, but it?s becoming increasingly difficult to run the vigilance with a handful of men,? the official said.

Shortly after the theft of the Buddha head, the authorities had repaired all closed-circuit TV sets, so movement of visitors in each gallery could be monitored from the room of the chief security officer.

Sources said another disaster could have struck the museum when it was plunged into darkness on the two days, as all the TV screens went blank and the guards were simply outnumbered by the visitors, and the galleries as well.

Director Shaktikali Basu, when contacted, said he would take up the matter with the culture department of the Union government and urge the officials to fill up the vacant posts of security guards.

He said he would also initiate measures to link the galleries with an alternative power supply system to ensure that the surveillance TV sets function even during power cuts.

The Union government, he added, is considering handing over security to the Central Industrial Security Force.

?Once the proposal is cleared, it will be easier for our own guards to monitor the visitors in the galleries,? the director told Metro.