With cases of atrocities against women and children on the rise, the city police are planning to install more CCTV cameras to book antisocial elements and eve-teasers.
Officials say that two surveillance cameras will be set up in the waiting rooms of the moffusil bus station and the old Palayam bus stand to keep an eye on troublemakers.
At present, main junctions have been covered by 76 surveillance cameras to curb traffic violations. This will be extended to nab antisocial elements also. Sources say that the city would get nearly 10 additional CCTV cameras and the procedure for sanctioning this is under way.
City Police Commissioner G Sparjan Kumar says that a proposal has been submitted to the police headquarters regarding the installation of more CCTV cameras so as to extend the facility to the entire city. “As per this plan, East Hill, Nallalam and Malaparamba areas will also come under CCTV camera surveillance. The cost of the installation work will be made available from the MP or MLA funds”, says the Commissioner.
He says that traffic violations have come down remarkably after the installation of surveillance cameras. The present system of monitoring through CCTV cameras is very effective as cases of speeding, riding two-wheelers without helmets and harsh driving have come down significantly. “The master control room set up at the office of the AC control room monitors round-the-clock visuals from cameras installed in different parts of the city and stations concerned, where notices issued to offenders,” says P T Krishnan Kutty, AC control room.
Unlike in cases where offenders are booked by police on the spot, law-breakers will chance to dispute charge levelled them as the control would have evidence. say that the cameras across the city condition, except at Manorama Nadakkavu, which of order after a during rain. The cameras capture pictures and record videos which can be viewed live on computers in the control room as all the cameras are linked to it. The cameras are powerful enough to capture images of up to 500 metres. They also have the capacity to capture images at night and have sensor facilities for autozooming to capture frames of traffic blocks and crowd. Police can also identify trouble- makers during any protest rally. The visuals captured in the cameras can be stored in the computer in the control room for a month. KELTRON, a PSU under the state government, maintains the cameras.