CCTVS, LED lights, Wi-fi: Capital to get 625 smart poles by May
SURVEILLANCE Total number of cameras to go up to 5,692
NEWDELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will install 625 “smart poles” equipped with a panic button near schools, Metro stations and other sensitive spots by December 2019 for additional security, officials familiar with the project said.
The panic button will help people contact officials at the civic agency’s command centre in cases of emergency. The CCTV cameras atop these poles will be equipped to revolve 360 degrees and capture footage of up to 100 metres, officials said.
The information collected from the smart poles will be sent to the NDMC command centre at Palika Kendra, senior NDMC officials said.
Such poles will be installed near the gates of 43 schools and 17 Metro stations as well as in prominent markets like Sarojini Nagar, Bengali Market, Netaji Nagar, BK Dutt Colony, Bengali Market and Gole Market.
Tihar Jail, the largest prison in the country, is set to get a major video surveillance overhaul as officials said they will increase the number of CCTV cameras in the complex by more than five times. From 942 cameras, the jail is set to get 5,692 night vision cameras within 10 months, officials said.
Last month, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the ₹120-crore project for the modernisation of video surveillance inside the prison.
Jail officers said there would be no blind spot left inside the 400acre complex once it gets the proposed addition of 4,750 new cameras.
“There will be mix of pan tilt zoom, dome and bullet cameras. This will be the first time all cameras will have facility of night vision. They will help in preventing any unlawful activity inside the prison and will also help monitor every single activity inside,” a prison spokesperson said.
At 15,892 inmates, the prison in west Delhi is the most overcrowded jail in India and houses some of the most high profile inmates including gangster Chhota Rajan, former parliamentarian Shahbuddin, Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal and VVIP chopper deal middleman Christian Michel.
In February last year, the Delhi High Court pulled up jail authorities when the latter failed to present CCTV footage that showed an alleged assault on prisoners by officials in Jail 1 on November 21, 2017. Officials had told the court that CCTV cameras were “non-functional.”
A senior prison officer said that the recording of all the 5,692 cameras would be placed at the jail and the prison headquarters.
According to the project report, the CCTV system is such that even if the management server goes offline, the recording would not get affected.
“The cameras will have video analytical feature. The storage facility will be such that it can save footage of 30 days and that too at two separate locations. This ensures that the footage cannot be tampered or lost because of technical glitches,” said an official from state home department, who did not wish to be identified.
By next week, the home department will float tenders for the cameras. Officials said the project will be completed within 10 months and that the terms of the tender state that the project cost cannot be escalated.
OFFICIALS SAID THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED IF THE CCTV MANAGEMENT SERVER GOES OFFLINE, RECORDINGS WOULD NOT GET AFFECTED