Gurgaon gets control room to monitor CCTV cameras

The facility was inaugurated on Thursday by Anand Mohan Sharan, principal secretary, Urban Local Bodies, Haryana.

The municipal corporation and police have collaborated to set up a centralised surveillance monitoring system which will cover fifteen locations between mini secretariat and Sadar Bazar, where traffic jams are frequently witnessed.

The CCTV system has been set by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) at the cost of Rs3.37 crore under the city monitoring and surveillance plan. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The command and control centre of this system has been set up a the police commissionerate, Gurgaon. The facility was inaugurated on Thursday by Anand Mohan Sharan, principal secretary, Urban Local Bodies, Haryana.

The CCTV system has been set by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) at the cost of Rs3.37 crore under the city monitoring and surveillance plan.

Under the pilot project, 61 CCTV cameras have been installed that include 12 PTZ cameras, 44 fixed IP cameras and 5 NPR cameras, feeds from which will go directly to the command and control centre at the police headquarters.

With the help of cameras and the command centre, police officials can engage in video surveillance of covered areas, video analysis, identify vehicle number plates and also engage in emergency communication. The system can store recordings for a period of 15 days.

The system will cover a ring, approximately covering 10 kilometres. The areas include Police HQ, Jail Chowk, Sohna Chowk, Kabir Bhawan Chowk, New Colony Chowk, Harish Bakery Chowk, Sector 4/7 Chowk, Dronacharya College, Agrasen Chowk, Post office, Sadar Bazar, Mor Chowk, mini secretariat and forest office on Sohna road.

Gurgaon police said that the installation of the surveillance system will definitely help to check crime, manage traffic and keep an eye on suspicious elements and miscreants.

“All these areas are high-traffic zones, where there are a large number of visitors every day. The monitoring system will help in keeping a watch on all crimes and violations. It will also help in improving investigation work and deter criminals,” Sumit Kuhar, DCP, crime, said.

Earlier, the city police had written to the local administration and the MCG regarding the need for bringing public areas under CCTV surveillance. “The police, under the statewide plan, under Operation Sanjay, plans to bring the entire city under CCTV surveillance. This will be done by integrating private and public CCTV systems,” Sandeep Khirwar, Gurgaon police commissioner, had previously said.

In the absence of a centralised surveillance system, the police face a lot of problems while investigating crimes, particularly armed heists, ATM and vehicle thefts.

“In several instances, CCTV camera feed is not available and also the quality of cameras is not good. There is a need to install good quality cameras so that crimes can be prevented and detected,” Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurgaon police, said.

V Umashankar, the commissioner of MCG, said that this is a pilot project and the central command centre of the surveillance system would be set up finally at the GMDA office. “The agency plans to bring entire Gurgaon under CCTV surveillance in the next 15 months as part of the project,” he said.

Anand Mohan Sharan said that this system will help the police in maintaining law and order in a better way. He said that Gurgaon’s geographic expansion and increase in the floating population calls for better monitoring and surveillance systems. He also said that optical fibres will be laid in the entire city and cameras, which are installed apart from setting up new CCTV systems, will be connected to the command centre.