HYDERABAD: After steps to lock up about 400 Hyderabad beggars in prisons ahead of Ivanka Trump’s arrival for Global Entrepreneurial Summit (GES), the frequent cordon and search operations launched by police across Old City is drawing criticism.To ensure foolproof security for visiting high profile dignitaries Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump on November 28, the first day of the summit, city police have installed 400 CCTV cameras across the route from Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Madhapur to Taj Falaknuma Palace hotel in the Old City.
Ateeq, a resident of Moghulpura, who was irked by police carrying a search at his house at 4 am on Wednesday, said, “In the name of the US President’s daughter’s safety, police are carrying surprise checks at our homes. In last four days, cops have disturbed my family twice with these searches. I have a hectic job in a software company. Who has given them the right to disturb our sleep at 4 am?”
While South Zone police boasted of having installed over 100 cameras in the surroundings of Falaknuma Palace, the people of Old City said they can’t make sense of the government’s decision to spend so much on the pomp and show.
Syed Mohsin, the owner of a company that provides footage to local channels, said that in the name of fitting poles for the CCTVs, the police have disturbed the cable connectivity in various parts of Old City.
“In the process of installing CCTVs, the officials have disrupted WiFi connection in many households. What is the point of spending so much on surveillance? Instead of draining money to welcome Modi and Ivanka, government could have spent on providing better civic amenities to residents of Old City.”
Why can’t Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not look into the issues of lack of public toilets, bad roads, poor conditions of libraries and government schools in this part of the city instead, questioned the residents.
Foolproof security
To ensure foolproof security for visiting high profile dignitaries PM Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump on November 28, the first day of the summit, city police have installed 400 CCTV cameras across the route