Plan to install 300 CCTV cameras in Ahmedabad

In order to roll out the project, there is a plan to form a citizen's security trust, which will raise funds."With the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, we feel that there is a an urgent need to have a network of CCTV cameras in a city like Ahmedabad, which has always been on the terror target," Police commissioner S K Sinha told PTI.

"The government procedure takes time, but we require the CCTV network to be installed at the earliest. Therefore, we plan to form 'Ahmedabad Citizen Security Trust (ACST)', which would fund the project for the initial three years, after which, it would be merged into the government programme," Sinha said.

"The funds raised through donations would be used only for the purpose of installing CCTV cameras across the city at over 100 locations," he added.

Under the project, the ACST would hire services of BSNL, which will install 300 CCTV cameras at over 100 important locations across the city, including the entry-exit points, malls, sensitive areas, railway stations, bus stops and airports.

"Images from the CCTV cameras would be transmitted through 3G broadband network to the police control room, from where, monitoring would be done," Sinha said.

He added that the cameras would not only help in case of terror attacks, but also in the detection of local crime and traffic related offenses.

The police commissioner said that such systems need to be installed immediately, considering the terror threat.Also, if 2-3 years pass before the project is sanctioned, the technology may have changed and more sophisticated security equipments would then be available and it won't make any point in installing old technology cameras, Sinha said.
According to Sinha, BSNL has agreed to be part of the project.

"The ownership of the CCTV cameras and broadband network will remain with the BSNL. It will be hired by the ACST for an initial period of three years, which is likely to cost approximately Rs one crore," Sinha said, adding that BSNL is likely to give its final proposal within a week.

He said that BSNL has begun conducting a test drive for such a system at 42 locations in the city since Saturday which will continue till July 26.

"We also plan to hold a meeting with potential donors in the city. We plan to collect Rs 3 crore initially, which will be sufficient for the first three years," Sinha said.

He added that if more funds are collected after deducting the cost of CCTV camera network, the ACST could also take up awareness activities on security issues in the city.
Sinha said that he had successfully implemented similar models for traffic related issues in Surat and Rajkot districts while he was posted there as police commissioner.

The state government has already decided to install CCTV-based City Surveillance and Intelligent Traffic Management System (CSITMS) in major cities of Gujarat to monitor traffic in sensitive areas, for which tenders have been floated. Initially the system would be installed in cities of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Gandhinagar and Somnath.