22 CCTVs to check Rajpath on R-Day

To pre-empt any terror strikes, 22 CCTVs will keep a close watch on people's movement on the 1.5 km Rajpath for a week in the run-up to the Republic Day when India showcases its military might.

To pre-empt any terror strikes, 22 CCTVs will keep a close watch on people's movement on the 1.5 km Rajpath for a week in the run-up to the Republic Day when India showcases its military might.

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The CCTVs will be installed at various locations of the Rajpath, the road connecting magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate, so that "no movement in the area go unrecorded".

The CCTVs will be installed during January 19 and 26, a senior police official said.

All the 22 'Pan-Tilt-Zoom' (PTZ) cameras will be monitored in the main CCTV control room at the saluting base at Rajpath.

Out of this, four, which will be installed at India Gate, will be monitored at the war memorial as well as in the main control room.

Two dedicated monitors shall be provided at the saluting base for a doctor who will monitor the VVIPs for emergency support, the official said.

"This is not an unprecedented step. We have to ensure that nothing happens as such occasions are always the target of terrorists. We should not be caught napping and so we are taking this precaution," the official said.

However, he said, the security measures will be more tighter in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai which claimed over 180 lives.

A massive ground-to-air security apparatus will be put in place for the Republic Day celebrations in the national capital with a huge deployment of police and para- military personnel. A multi-layer security ring will be put in place at the Rajpath, where President Pratibha Patil will unfurl the tricolour and take the salute of marching contingents.

Mobile hit teams, anti-aircraft guns and sharpshooters of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) are likely to be deployed at various locations while paramilitary and Delhi Police commandos will keep a tight vigil along the route of the Republic Day parade.