80 RWAs come together to make roads safe in Karnataka by installing CCTV cameras
BENGALURU: More than 80 resident welfare associations have joined hands to make the largely residential area in and around Kanakapura Road safe for pedestrians and motorists. They are installing 300 high-resolution CCTV cameras at key locations in the area. The monitoring will be done on a video wall at the command center to be set up at the Thallagattapura police station in Bengaluru South.
G Kiran Kumar, joint secretary of the Changemakers of Kanakapura Road Association, an umbrella organization under which all the RWAs fall, told TNIE, “We began Garuda -- the CCTV project three months ago. At present, we have already installed over 100 CCTV cameras at important junctions. These are high-resolution five-megapixel cameras. At present, we have installed them at 100 ft Vajrahalli Road, between Anjanpura Road and Vajrahalli Metro station on Kanakapura Road, Narayananagar, Balaji Layout, and near Thalaghattapura. We hope to complete 150 cameras before it is set for launch by the police commissioner within a month.”
A total of 12 LED walls, with each screen running up to 49 inches, will be installed at the police station with space already earmarked for it, he said. Srivatsa Vajpeyam, association secretary, said, “The project totally costs Rs 3 crore with much of the funds provided by the RWAs. A few schools, colleges, and private firms too have made contributions.”
Explaining how the project started, Kumar said, “Circle Inspector N Jagadish of Thalaghattapura police station proposed it. He was involved in similar initiatives at Ashok Nagar and Hebbagodi police stations, but they were on a small scale. We told him we could implement it at a much larger level and he asked us to go ahead.”
Along with the CCTV cameras, public announcement systems are being installed in a few places too. The results have already started showing, Kumar said. “We used to have miscreants playing loud music, consuming drugs and alcohol in isolated spots near my apartment ‘Shoba Forest View’ here. Wheelies were often done in a narrow lane near Balaji Layout. With regular automated announcements coming from these systems, all the activities have completely stopped,” he added. When the project is completed, it will help in making live announcements.