1,524 CCTVs to track crime, traffic violations in Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai to have 1,524 high-definition CCTV cameras covering 540 locations to maintain law and order, monitor crime, and track traffic violators.

NAVI MUMBAI: In two weeks’ time, 540 locations in Navi Mumbai will be under the surveillance of 1,524 high-definition closed-circuit television (CCTV) to help maintain law and order, monitor crime and track traffic violators in the city.

HT Image

According to additional municipal commissioner Shirish Aradwad, “The Zone I area from Belapur to Vashi has been made operational and is under CCTV coverage. There are around 900 cameras in this area.”

He added, “We are working on the Zone II area of Kopar Khairane to Digha which has the remaining 635 cameras. We will have complete coverage in two weeks.”

On March 15, chief minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated the CCTV project by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) but the system, however, only has been partially operational since, although the cameras have all been installed.

Explaining the reason for the delay, Aradwad said, “There are some networking issues that need to be sorted. There are also some pending permissions from various agencies like PWD, CIDCO etc. which are still yet to come in.”

Municipal commissioner Kailas Shinde said, “540 locations in the city will be monitored by high definition CCTVs. These include main chowks, bus depots, markets, gardens, grounds, junctions, public places attracting large crowds, NMMC headquarters, Palm Beach road, Thane Belapur road, Sion-Panvel highway and other such busy roads.”

He added, “Along with the cameras, public address systems will be deployed at 24 traffic junctions. It will help in guiding and giving instructions from the CCTV control room to citizens in times of emergencies as a part of the disaster management system.”

Shinde stated, “All the cameras have been installed in both the zones. We will ensure network connectivity at the earliest and commission them all soon.”

The present contract of 1,524 cameras has been undertaken by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) at a cost of ₹127.63 crore, which includes five years of maintenance and data. Later, additional cameras will be installed based on inputs from the police department taking the total number to 1,600 cameras.

The project has an integrated command and control centre, the centralised controlling and monitoring cell of the CCTV network located on the first floor of NMMC headquarters. It is connected to the special cell of Navi Mumbai police commissionerate. There will also be a monitoring cell at the office of the deputy commissioner of police (traffic) and that of deputy commissioner of police (zone I).

All the cameras will have a captured video storage capacity of 30 days. There is also a provision to collate for independent storage, capturing CCTV videos of important events and incidents.

Giving details of the cameras, Aradwad said, “There are 954 fixed cameras along with 360-degree panoramic view monitoring 165 pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras. Taking into account the sensitive long coastal belt of the city, 9 thermal cameras have been installed for enhanced security to keep a vigil on any terrorist or anti-national activity.”

Aradwad stated, “96 evidence cameras, which are crucial for the police department will be installed at 24 main traffic junctions. 288 automated number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras will also be installed.”

He explained, “These cameras will automatically read the number plates of the vehicles. Once commissioned, they will help in sending penalty challans along with vehicle photographs as proof to the residence of motorists who jump traffic signals or violate other traffic norms.”