TIRUPATI: Tirupati, one of the country’s busiest temple cities, has got a digital security shield with the launch of Phase-I of the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), bringing CCTV surveillance, intelligent traffic management and other civic monitoring systems under one roof.
The upgraded ‘Third Eye’ surveillance network is aimed at ensuring the safety of lakhs of pilgrims visiting the city, besides helping police and civic authorities monitor traffic movement, detect violations and respond to emergencies in real time.
The Rs 120-crore ICCC project, taken up under the Tirupati Smart City initiative and implemented by NEC Corporation India Pvt Ltd, envisages an integrated command centre, data centre, CCTV surveillance, Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS), Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), GIS and city collaboration systems.
With fund constraints affecting the wider Smart City programme, the project scope was rationalised to concentrate on essential and readily usable facilities.
350 CCTV cameras planned across temple town
The revised financial structure comprises Rs 78 crore for capital expenditure and Rs 42 crore for five years of operation and maintenance of ICCC.
Around 350 CCTV cameras are planned across the city under the expanded surveillance network. About 110 cameras are currently operational, covering key traffic junctions and locations identified for police, municipal and other civic requirements. The surveillance network is proposed at 148 locations, comprising 18 police, 111 Municipal Corporation of Tirupati, 10 town-planning, and nine along Zoo Road.
The system will enable officials to monitor important public spaces and traffic corridors from the command centre.
“The ICCC is being developed as an integrated platform for surveillance, traffic management and civic monitoring. Considering the huge number of devotees and visitors arriving in Tirupati every day, the strengthened camera network will help the authorities monitor vulnerable and crowded locations and respond quickly to emergencies. We are implementing the system in phases, prioritising the facilities that are ready,” M Shyamasunder, Superintending Engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati, told TNIE.
Further, the traffic management system is being established at 20 junctions with RLVD facility to facilitate automatic generation of e-challans. Works have been completed at 12 junctions, including all the main places in the city, the SE said.
ANPR systems are being established at six locations to identify vehicles and support traffic enforcement and management. The GIS component will enable authorities to map and analyse location-based civic information.