BHUBANESWAR: The State Police Headquarters is unable to make real-time surveillance of 249 police stations in the state because of their non-integration to the central management system (CMS).
The CMS provides real-time surveillance of all the integrated police stations. However, out of 645 police stations in the state, 249 are yet to be linked to the network.
The Odisha police has asked the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) to take up the issue with the agency which has been entrusted the work.
In a recent review, it came to fore that 12,797 CCTV cameras have been installed in 645 police stations of the state. Of them, 12,279 cameras are online in 632 police stations and there is no CCTV surveillance in the remaining 13 police stations.
Similarly, in every SP office, a video management system (VMS) has been installed for monitoring of CCTV surveillance system which is integrated with CMS located at the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack for central surveillance.
While 547 police stations are integrated with CMS, 98 are awaiting to be integrated while 151 others have been disconnected due to technical issues.
After the alleged custodial torture of an Army officer and his fiancee in Bharatpur police station here in September 2024, the Orissa High Court had directed that all the police stations and the police outposts in the state must be fully equipped with aptly placed and duly located CCTV cameras by March 2025. Their integration with the CMS through VMS must also be completed during the period, the court had said.
Apart from non-integration of police stations with the CMS, another cause of concern is about 518 cameras installed in various police stations across the state are currently offline. As per the contract, the CCTV cameras are required to be maintained in fully-functional condition on a round-the-clock basis by the executing agency roped in by OCAC. However, the same has not been ensured despite several reminders, a letter to Home department’s additional chief secretary seen by TNIE said.
“It is requested that necessary instructions may be issued to chief executive officer of OCAC to take immediate steps for restoration and ensuring uninterrupted functionality of CCTV cameras in the police stations and outposts across the state, in accordance with the guidelines of the Supreme Court,” it said.