Open spaces in city to come under CCTV blanket

₹42-crore project to cover walkways, parks and other key locales

Come February, most public spaces under the Kochi Corporation will be covered by a surveillance blanket provided by 465 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at 125 locales as part of the Integrated City Surveillance System (ICSS) of Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML).

They will cover walkways, parks, junctions and other key locales. The ₹42-crore cloud-based video surveillance system project, work on which is under way, will have video-analytical capabilities like detection of littering on streets, vehicle licence plates and no-helmet recognition, detection of intruders and those who vandalise public properties. This would lessen the burden on the police and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD), which would be able to keep tabs on criminals and rule violators from the confines of the integrated city command and control centre (IC4), CSML sources said. This will be a game changer in law enforcement, becoming a deterrent for rule violators and a reassurance to citizens, since it is expected to prevent and reduce crimes in the city.

The system, being readied by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), will also come in handy to assist emergency services.

BEL will also be vested with its upkeep for three years.

On the blink

At present, most CCTVs along arterial roads and other public spaces in the city, installed by the police and the Motor Vehicles Department, are defunct. The malfunctioning cameras will be replaced with modern ones and integrated with the project. The 125 areas where the cameras will be installed were decided in tandem with the police, the sources added.

The data collected will be primarily used by the police and the MVD, to bring to book miscreants and rule violators. On its part, it will help the Kochi Corporation to report offences related to littering and illegal dumping of waste.

Traffic discipline

The cameras will be capable of zooming into a person’s face, aiding his detection. The data thus gathered will be used by the police to identify the person.

Apart from ensuring safety and security of members of the public, the system will help garner evidence that will come in handy before courts for criminal and civil cases. It is also expected to help improve traffic discipline and in managing large-scale events.

In addition, emergency call boxes and public address systems will be installed at 50 and 20 locations respectively. They too would be linked to the command and control centre, the sources added.

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