The Indian Express 03.09.2012
Soon, 150 more CCTV cameras for Vadodara roads, public places
Soon, there will be 150 more CCTV cameras in the city to keep a constant watch on roads and other public places in the city. The city police have drawn up a plan for the additional cameras and Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will fund the project.
City police commissioner Satish Sharma forwarded the proposal to municipal commissioner Ashwini Kumar last week asking VMC to bear the cost of the project. The commissioner has accepted the proposal and the civic body is expected to clear it soon.
There are 29 cameras installed at major traffic junctions in the city since 2008. The commissioner of police has now proposed to cover the entire city under CCTV camera surveillance. According to the plan, the cameras will be operated by five control rooms. While Karelibaug, Old Padra Road and Fatehgunj police stations will house a control room each, there will be a control room at the VMC office in Khanderao Market. The master control room will be at the Police Bhavan, the headquarters of city police.
“Keeping in mind terrorist and other threats, surveillance at public places is necessary. However, we don’t have human resources to do it manually. So, these cameras will be helpful. They have been quite effective in London and a few other big cities,” commissioner Sharma told The Indian Express.Sharma further said once the project is implemented, every intersection in the will be under the eye of CCTV cameras.
“They will help in regulating traffic and catching traffic (rule) violators. Secondly, they will help catching criminals who try to run away after committing crimes. And thirdly, they will help keeping an eye on suspicious and terror elements,” the commissioner elaborated. The commissioner further said the existing 29 cameras were revolving cameras and hence could not do surveillance of all roads at an intersection at a time. The 29 cameras were installed at Rs 85 lakh and were funded by VMC and MPLAD grant of the then MP Jaya Thakkar.
