A defunct traffic signal at Dak Bungalow roundabout in Patna. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, June 3: A private company blatantly misrepresenting its promises made in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed for installation of traffic signals across the city has finally caught the eye of the city police.

Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande, also superintendent of police (traffic), told The Telegraph that an FIR would be lodged against the company.

“The company seems to have duped the state government time and again. Legal action will be taken and an FIR will be lodged against Webel Mediatronics Limited now,” he said.

Calcutta-based Webel Mediatronics Limited signed a MoU with the police department to set up 18 traffic signals across Patna in 2005. They were also supposed to install a signal in Muzaffarpur. However, the company installed only 17. Worse, the signals stopped functioning within six months of being installed. The company also failed to fulfil a few other provisions mentioned in the MoU.

Attempts to contact the company, which has an office on Taratala Road in Calcutta, proved futile.

Sources, however, claimed it was very strange that no senior police officer had noticed the “irregularities” being conducted by the company till now.

“How can it be that no police officer observed these irregularities? Why were these issues not raised earlier? It seems there was some connivance in this,” said a police officer.

The 17 signals were installed at Dumra More, Lalit Bhavan More, IPS More, Hartali More, the crossing of Boring Road and Bailey Road, Boring Road, Shivpuri, Income Tax Roundabout, Voltas Roundabout, Kotwali Junction, Dakbungalow Roundabout, Bhattacharya Roundabout, north and south end of Chiraiyatand Bridge, Exhibition Road, Bakarganj More, Nala Road and Anisabad More. Police officers at present are unsure of where the 18th signal was supposed to be installed.

A senior police officer said: “The signals stopped working within six months. There was no attempt to fix them despite the lights being under the warranty period given by the company. The company had started duping the state government then. The government gave a sum of Rs 1,19,63,605 to the company for setting up the signals.”

On May 20 this year, the signal at Dakbungalow Chowk suddenly started to blink for a while. Not only did the company fail to set up the stipulated number of signals, the ones they installed were not in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

According to the MoU, the company had to install the signals in the Urban Traffic Control System (UTCS). But they installed the signals according to the Fixed Control System (FCS).

“The UTCS system is automatic and uses a microprocessor. These do not need manual operation. But the company installed the signals according to FCS, which require a person to operate the traffic controls,” a source added.

According to the MoU, the company was also supposed to provide a two-month training to the traffic constables to man the signals. This, too, was not done. Despite the failure on part of the company, the police headquarters entered an annual maintenance contract with it last year.

“On July 17, 2010, the headquarters got into an annual maintenance contract (AMC) with the same company. Former superintendent of police (traffic) Ajit Kumar Sinha facilitated the contract with Webel. The company was also paid a sum of Rs 8.5 lakh for this. At that time, companies like the Bhubaneswar-based Enkom Private Limited and New Delhi-based Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System Limited had approached the officers but they were ignored and Webel, which had been unsuccessful in running the signals, were again awarded the AMC,” a senior police officer added.

On April 18 this year, the company had sent a letter to the police headquarters claiming that they were unable to carry out the maintenance of the signals, as they had not been able to find the equipment and the spare parts.

However, police officers said the representatives of the company were now trying to save face and the contract by fixing the signals.