Last month’s bomb blast on Church Street in Bangalore has woken up the police to the imperative of surveillance, and the need to involve local communities in ensuring safety in public places. As first steps in that direction, the South East division police have persuaded the owners of nearly 25 shops, eateries, and establishments in an around Koramangala V block to install state-of-the-art CCTV cameras which can cover a radius of nearly two kilometres at crucial entry and exit points in the area.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat said the initiative is Phase 1 of a police project to tighten security in the whole of Koramangala.
This phase of the project involves the installation of four colour and infrared, high-resolution CCTV cameras at strategic points in Koramangala V block – opposite Jyothi Nivas College on JNC Road, at the HDFC bank junction on Ganapathi Temple Road, on 4th ‘B’ Cross, and the point just before Nova Speciality Hospital connecting to 100 Feet Road. The control room will be able to receive live feed of the video footage from all cameras.
In a bid to involve the local community in security measures, the South East division police had on December 26 organised a meeting with shop owners and others whose establishments are located in and around V Block. The police encouraged the vendors to form a traders’ association and take measures, including installation of CCTV cameras, to aid security.
“Hopefully, we can get people who are willing to sponsor the project; but the vendors and shopkeepers themselves are also keen to go ahead because they understand how lack of security could impact them as well. The cameras will be top-notch, and capable of panning and zooming with such clarity that it will allow us to note down registration numbers of vehicles. Hopefully, phase 1 will be complete in 15-20 days,” Katoch said. Meanwhile, Phase 2 will extend the security ambit to the rest of Koramangala and will reportedly involve the installation of more high-resolution security cameras.
