City outskirts too to get cameras

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The third phase of installation of surveillance cameras in the city would be completed within a week. With the installation of 192 cameras by the Kerala Road Safety Authority (KSRA), 37 crowded pockets within the city and outskirts would be brought under the hawkish eye of the law enforcers. It is for the first time that surveillance cameras are being installed in the city outskirts. Installation of cameras in places like Sasthamangalam, Manacaud, Vanchiyoor, Marappalam, Kesavadasapuram and Ulloor is nearing completion. City police control room AC P Bijoy said that prime locations and select spots in the city outskirts would come under the eyes of the cameras. ”Accident-prone areas, crime hot spots and crowded commercial areas will be covered. Another focus point would be demonstrations. In certain cases, we have seen that the agitations and protests in front of specific locations turn violent. So, such areas would also be brought under surveillance,” he said. The 192 city surveillance and traffic monitoring systems will be controlled directly from the police control room. The high-quality cameras, which are tamper-proof and night vision-enabled, could record continuously for 30 days. The live visuals can be viewed from the control room.  The cameras, of varying resolutions, will take photographs of the registration number of the vehicles of traffic offenders. These data will be made available to the police personnel in the control room. Further action depends on the nature of the offence. The details of those who commit big violations would be sent to the Traffic Department for further action. S P Gopakumar, project manager of Keltron, the implementing agency of the project, said:“The installation of more than 400 cameras in the three major cities of the State was part of the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’ plan. In Kochi and Kozhikode, the project has been completed; here, it would take a few days more. A week, to be precise.”  Apart from surveillance systems, an Automatic Traffic Enforcement System has been installed in six locations on the Kovalam - Kollam National Highway. The radar-like equipment will determine the speed of passing vehicles. The photographs of overspeeding vehicles (travelling at over 80 kilometres per hour) will be sent to the control room.