The contract for implementing the Rs 496.67 crore police project to make Bengaluru a safe city for women – through the extensive use of audio-video systems including drones and CCTV – has been awarded to Honeywell Automation India Limited. The ‘Safe City’ project, which is being implemented in many cities across the country under the ‘Nirbhaya Scheme’, created in the aftermath of a horrifying rape incident in New Delhi in 2016, will see the MHA providing 60% funds and the respective states contributing the remaining amount.
The project had run into a controversy last year after two senior police officers were involved in a spat over the tender process for the project. An integrated command and control centre will be created in Bengaluru under the Safe City Project “to manage a state-of-the-art video system that features more than 7,000 video cameras deployed at over 3,000 locations across the city”, Honeywell Automation India Ltd said while announcing that it has bagged the project.
“The video system will provide advanced video analytics, including facial recognition, a ‘Dial 100’ application and drones. Honeywell will also upgrade the city police department’s existing Suraksha app to help improve incident response rate and citizen engagement,” the company said in its statement. Bengaluru is among eight cities selected for enhancement of the security environment in phases using modern electronics and communication technology.
The project “involves identification of hot spots for crimes against women and deployment of various components, including infrastructure, technology adoption, and capacity building in communities through awareness programs,” Honeywell said in a statement. The private firm will operate and maintain the security infrastructure in Bengaluru for five years.
“For more than 30 years, Honeywell has supported India’s growth with differentiated technologies, working to make our cities safer, smarter and more connected,” Ashish Gaikwad, the president of Honeywell India, said.
The safe city project tender, which was supposed to be executed last year, got mired in a controversy with two IPS officers trading barbs over the project. The controversy arose after one of the bidders for the project reportedly complained to senior city police officials that an officer of the home department had approached the bidder for details of the project before the Request for Proposal (RFP) was uploaded by the then additional commissioner of police (administration). The then secretary to the government (Prison, Civil Defence and Auxiliary Services, Home Department) D Roppa had alleged that there were several irregularities related to the project. The tender process was subsequently cancelled and was later floated again under a fresh administration in the police commissionerate.
