While a drone camera will be part of the security set-up this Republic Day, Mission CCTV City has Lucknow being fitted with other high-tech cameras to improve law and order on the roads. ‘Smile, you’re on camera’ should be the mantra followed by Lucknowis in the days to come, for the Lucknow Police and District Administration plan to have their eyes on you through CCTV surveillance via drone cameras. All these are being used by the authorities to keep a check on violations in the city. Innumerable signs have been put up across the city warning us that we’re on camera, and the drones may soon be a regular feature too.
The drone camera has already made its debut in the city, with the District Administration deploying the device for surveillance during the assembly by-election in September, during Muharram and also during the Lucknow Mahotsav.
While drones are currently being used only on special occasions, the Lucknow police is planning to use them on a daily basis to keep a check on law and order in the city.
The city might be flooded with ‘Aap camera ki nazar mein hai’ signboards put up in almost all localities, but you still can’t guess the number of CCTV cameras that have been installed throughout – 4000 presently and another 5000 to come!
“There are two parallel projects – one centred around traffic, and the other to check street crimes. Under the Traffic Surveillance Project, 300 advanced CCTV cameras have been installed. They are PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) cameras. The other project is to bring down street crime. Under that, 9000 cameras will be installed, of which 4000 are already functioning and the rest 5000 will be installed in the next one and half months. This will greatly bring down street crimes, and it has already started showing its effectiveness,” he adds. Elaborating further, Yadav says, “There are plenty of CCTV cameras installed in city hospitals and offices. We plan to consolidate the feeds from all CCTV cameras in the city and monitor it at the Modern Police Control Room in Gomtinagar.”
