With threat of attacks from terrorists to organised crime groups and several other sources looming large over megacities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is planning to enhance public security in at least seven vulnerable cities by deploying smart technology.
Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad would soon get helicopters, UAVs and balloons fitted with high-power cameras, sensors and other surveillance equipment under the MHA’s Safe City Project, 2013. The air surveillance equipment would be connected to the Command Control Centre (CCC), which would store, analyse and disseminate the intelligence input to law enforcement agencies for further action.
In its guidelines, the MHA said it was essential to have surveillance from air. “The data (video, audio and text) collected from these devices should be fed to the Command Control Centre for necessary action for both preventive and post-incident operations. This element can also serve as a very effective means to check incidence of law and order as also the activities of criminal elements,” the MHA said.
The MHA has plans to launch highway patrol cars in seven cities on the lines of US Homeland Security. These modern and high-speed cars would have surveillance equipment such as automated licence plate reader, intelligent cameras and computer system that is directly connected to the CCC to relay real-time data.
It aims to cover every inch of the cities with CCTV surveillance linked to wireless system. In the initial stage, it plans to cover places such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, hospitals, universities, schools, major roads and areas densely populated or prone to crimes. The MHA would also talk with private sector industries and business houses on installing compatible CCTV network from where data generated could be transmitted to the CCC.
The MHA also proposed to upgrade and integrate Dial 100 system to handle a variety of emergencies arising out of law and order problems. It said the police, health and fire-related emergencies should be integrated in one state-of-the-art system well-equipped with GIS, GPS, GPRS and computer based dispatches.