To discourage the illegal dumping of wastes into the city’s heavily polluted Karamana-Killiyar river system, CCTV cameras will soon be set up at several locations along its banks. This is as part of the integrated pilot project spearheaded by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) to revive the water body.
“A technical committee comprising representatives of various government departments has decided the locations where the cameras would be set up,” said Narayana Pillai, KSCSTE’s project advisor.
The cameras would be located along the six-kilometre stretch between Myladikadavu and Iranimuttam, the area that falls under Phase I of the pilot project. The Rs 5-crore integrated project involves the participation of various departments such as the City Corporation, Kerala Water Authority, Public Works Department and Irrigation Department, with Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) as the nodal agency.
The Corporation is responsible for the setting up of the “fixed, vandal-proof” cameras, a job which it will be implementing through Keltron, according to the officials of these bodies. Once the installation is complete, the plan is to hand over the monitoring to the Police Department.
“Talks are on to set up a monitoring cell at the Karamana police station,” Pillai said. The cameras will set up in “sensitive spots” where dumping of garbage into the water body is frequent for day and night monitoring.
“It is hoped that continuous monitoring will curb these acts,” said Anil Kumar, secretary of TRIDA, which is releasing the funds for the same through the Science Council. The installation of the cameras is estimated to cost around Rs 50 lakh, he said.
A similar exercise is also being executed by the Corporation along the Amayizhanjan canal as part of its Thampanoor flood mitigation project.
“We are installing closed circuit cameras with IR sensors at around 30 locations along the canal where it is uncovered,” said Beena Mathew, general manager with Keltron, which is also a partner in the project implementation. “We hope to complete the work by June end,” she said.