The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) installed eight facial recognition cameras at the entry and exit of the MG Road Metro station. Eight such cameras will also be installed at the Sikanderpur metro station shortly. GMDA officials said that they are yet to receive permission from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for installing facial recognition cameras at the Huda City Centre station.
The enhanced surveillance will improve safety and security of commuters, especially women and children, officials claimed. The GMDA is also in the process of linking all metro stations with the Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC) in Sector 44.
The technology detects facial features and matches them with existing information on databases to identify a particular person. Police said that this surveillance system will help control eve-teasing and snatching incidents, common outside metro stations.
The cameras will help identify miscreants who flee the scene, taking advantage of the rush. “There have been several cases where suspects could not be identified. These cameras will also help us in investigating other criminal cases apart from petty crime and traffic violations,” said Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime).
Sangwan said a team of seven officers, including a sub-inspector, is deployed to monitor feeds at the ICCC and detect crime. Vehicle theft, a major challenge for authorities, has been controlled to a great extent with the system’s help. Sudhir Rajpal, chief executive officer, GMDA, said 1,130 CCTV cameras are operational 24×7 at 212 junction locations in the city at present.
“These camera feeds are monitored round the clock by the police department for city surveillance and traffic management through ICCC. Regular e-challans are issued for traffic violations pertaining to jumping red-lights, zebra crossings, not wearing helmets or seat belts and on vehicles without high security number plate, using this CCTV infrastructure set-up by GMDA. On an average around 1,700 to 1,800 challans are issued daily,” he said.
