The pole installed for CCTV camera on Station Road in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

High-speed Internet Protocol cameras would be in place at four roundabouts of the capital by April 10.

At least two Patna-based private companies appointed for the installation process told The Telegraph on Thursday that poles to support the closed-circuit cameras had been installed. The process of fitting them would be complete in April first week.

The officials said the tender for the camera installation work was invited in March last year. By April, the servers were available.

When asked why it took so many days to install the cameras, Navendu Kumar, the managing director of Verma Infocomm Private Limited, said: “There has been some delay but things are moving at a fast pace now. Getting a no-objection certificate from Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) regarding the locations took time. The police appointed a Patna-based advertising company for providing the Internet connection at each site and set up the poles.”

He added: “Since the cost of the entire project exceeded the budget, it was decided that the advertising company will generate revenue for the project by putting up advertisements on the poles. The plan has been finalised and the cameras and the servers, which will be installed by us, will be set up latest by April first week. The cameras will be fully operational by April 10.”

The cameras will be set up at Dakbungalow roundabout, Station roundabout, Income Tax roundabout and Exhibition Road roundabout. The officials of the Patna-based Mascom Infra Private Limited, the advertising company, also confir- med that the work is going on in full swing.

“We have installed the poles. An “L” shaped bracket will be put up on the poles for the cameras. We will get the Internet connection with the help of fibre optics. We will bear the cost and also put up advertisements on the poles for revenue,” said Sona Singh, the owner of Mascom Infra Private Limited.

Navendu said the main server and monitoring room of the cameras were being set up at Patna police office from where the traffic will be monitored and updates will be available on the website, www.patnatrafficpolice.in.

The announcement to install the cameras was made on December 24 last year. Former Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar, now the deputy inspector-general of Saran, had claimed that the installation would be completed in four weeks’ time, after which traffic updates of important roads of the capital would be available on the website.