The residents of Ponnurunni are all set to trek a new terrain in community policing. The residents, who with the police had launched the joint night patrol, are planning to set up a network of surveillance cameras along the entire stretch of Ponnurunni road.
Nearly 13 residents’ associations on the 4-km-stretch will jointly set up more than 100 cameras at different spots. “The proposal is just in the initial stage. Right now, we are discussing the proposal with individual associations and at the beat-level. We will convene a major meeting of all the associations concerned in the first week of July to chart out a clear action plan,” said S. Vijayasankar, sub-inspector, Palarivattom police, under whose limits the area falls.
Of late, patrolling in the area had slackened and a couple of chain-snatching instances were reported. “Three associations have decided to set up their own camera surveillance system and now they have also volunteered to join the network,” said A. Ajith Kumar, general secretary of Ernakulam District Residents’ Associations Apex Council (EDRAAC), who is also a resident of the area.
The visuals from the network of cameras will be routed to the Palarivattom police station.
“It is said that the system will have a back up of nearly 30 to 40 hours. So we need not monitor it constantly, as it is done in the Control Room. If some incident occurs, we can go back to the visual within a day,” said Mr. Vijayasankar.
The residents’ associations are now trying to garner support for the project from commercial establishments along the road.
It is pointed out that bulk purchase of surveillance cameras will bring down the cost of individual units considerably, making it affordable for the residents’ associations.
If the initiative sees the light of day, it will be the first of its kind in the State.
