Major towns in Tiruvannamalai district get high resolution CCTV cameras at key accident prone zones and crime spots. The police have installed 300 cameras at 100 such identified spots in the first phase of the initiative. Accompanied by Collector B. Murugesh, Minister for Public Works, Buildings, Highways and Minor Ports E.V. Velu inaugurated the project at the Collectorate on Saturday. The initiative comes in the wake of four ATM robberies in the district, especially Tiruvannamalai town, in February.
The police said that poor surveillance, including lack of adequate CCTV cameras on arterial roads and intersections in the district, was a major reason for the easy escape of the suspects from the crime scene. “Cameras fitted in the identified spots will be linked to the centralised control room at the SP office. Local police stations will also have access to the footage of these cameras for quick response,” K. Karthikeyan, SP (Tiruvannamalai), told The Hindu. At present, more than 200 CCTV cameras are located only in Tiruvannamalai town including the 14-km-long girivalam path and Arunachaleswara temple. Most of these cameras, which were installed over a decade ago, have been maintained by HR&CE, traders and individuals. These cameras were not connected to a centralized control unit to have a permanent database for crime prevention. Police use the footage as part of investigation of crime in the area.
The initiative aims to bring all vulnerable spots in the district under the common surveillance system for better policing. The district has been divided into eight assembly constituencies for the initiative. Except Tiruvannamalai and Arani towns, other six constituencies including Polur, Chengam, Cheyyar, Vandavasi and Kilpennathur get 50 cameras each. Most of these cameras were funded under MLA local area development fund. The total cost of the project was ₹60 lakh.
Accident-prone zones and crime spots were selected by a police team led by DSP in each of these towns. A centralised control unit at the SP’s office will monitor the movement of vehicles and people round-the-clock. Live feed will also be sent to mobile phones of senior police officers in the district. Such integrated surveillance will strengthen the routine patrolling system especially at its 15 border check-posts, which also have Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. Each ANPR camera has 15 days of storage capacity with two cameras in each check-post.
