NEW DELHI: In a belated but much-needed move, the Indian Railways has started working to install the hi-tech Video Surveillance System (VSS) at the country's more than seven hundred prominent railway stations with the fund allotted under the Nirbhaya Fund.
The ministry after a long delay has assigned the RailTel with the task of completing the installation of Video Surveillance System (VSS) equipped with high-resolution CCTV cameras with a footage storage capacity of more than a month.
The government of India had set up the Nirbhaya Fund with an allocated amount of Rs 500 crore after the brutal gang rape and subsequent murder of a girl in Delhi in 2012.
It was decided initially to bring more than 983 railway stations with noticeable footfalls of passengers across the country under the VSS to ensure safety and security for passengers, especially women.
According to an official statement issued by RailTel to this daily, around 756 railway stations of categories A, A1, B and C would be equipped with high-resolution CCTV cameras under the VSS in the first phase of the project by January 2023.
The official source said that the remaining stations will be covered in phase 2 of implementation in order to ensure foolproof electronic surveillance for the safety and security of passengers all over the railway. The most modern software & hardware will be used in this project.
"All these CCTV cameras under the VSS at railway stations, which are major hubs of transportation, would be Internet Protocol (IP) covering the waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrance and exit, platforms, foot over bridges, booking offices", said the railway.
Speaking over this move, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, said, "We Need to rapidly absorb new technology in Railways, be it for rolling stock, construction, safety, cyber security, or in situations where there is a human interface".
Meanwhile, Aruna Singh- Chairman and Managing Director of RailTel said that the finalization of the executing agencies and the implementation of the project will be fast-tracked.
All the CCTV cameras would be networked on optical fibre cable and the video feed of the CCTV cameras will be displayed not only at local RPF posts but also at a centralized CCTV control room at divisional and zonal levels.
"The CCTV cameras of stations and video feeds will be monitored at these 3 levels to ensure enhanced safety and security at Railway premises. The system comes with Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled Video Analytics Software and Facial Recognition Software which will help to detect known criminals triggering an alert when they enter station premises", railway sources claimed.
Detailing the project, the Railtel sources said that the 4 types of IP cameras (Dome type, bullet types, Pan Tilt Zoom type and Ultra HD- 4k) are being installed to ensure maximum coverage of the Railway premises as these cameras are designed to preserve the video recording and feeds for 30 days.
The Cameras with the AI support will also detect the vehicles intruding into safety zones and capture face images for generating alerts