The Police and Secunderabad Cantonment Board inaugurated a network of 100 CCTV cameras in West Marredpally on Monday. The network adds to the growing body of cameras used for both policing and civic administration in the cantonment area.
About a year ago, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board set out on getting communities to finance setting up CCTV cameras for security and civic administration purposes. The police joined the effort and encouraged the involvement of the community, mainly residential areas and street-facing businesses. As a result, the camera network in the North Zone, mostly comprising cantonment and the area extending about Bolarum Police Station, has over 40,000 cameras.
“The camera network has helped the police crack cases and also helps us identify the cause of civic problems,” said Secunderabad Cantonment Chief Executive Officer, S.V.R. Chandrashekar.
The camera network in West Marredpally costing around ₹60 lakh was financed by the Cantonment Board and the community.
“The community provided ₹35 lakh while the Cantonment Board CEO provided ₹ 25 lakh,” said M. Mahender Reddy, Commissioner of Hyderabad City Police. He attributed dip in crime rate in the city to improvement in electronic surveillance across Hyderabad.
North Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police B. Sumathi and ward member P. Nalini Kiran were present at the inauguration.
