Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is likely to offer its vast optic fibre cable (OFC) network to the Chennai Police for installing 2,700 sophisticated cameras, intended to bring the entire city jurisdiction of 785 sq. km under the electronic eye.
According to police sources, BSNL engineers met Commissioner of Police S. George and explained how their OFC network, spread across the city, could provide suitable bandwidth for streaming live visuals. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had announced the proposed installation of the surveillance cameras in the Assembly in April.
With each of the 135 police stations expected to get 20 cameras, police teams are finalising the areas where they could be deployed strategically. In a few months from now, the cameras may start rolling, enabling police to have live visuals of the city. OFC technology would facilitate faster transmission of data and provide high quality video, the sources said.
“We are now using web-casting to monitor agitations or any scene of disturbance live. This helps senior officers to take decisions on traffic diversions, arrest of protesters, deployment of additional manpower etc. Also, the activities of the people at the scene are recorded,” Mr. George said.
Meanwhile, police sources said 200 camera-mounted vehicles were set to be deployed for patrolling, crowd control and traffic management purposes. In the event of an emergency, the vehicles would reach the spot within minutes and render police services besides recording the happenings there.
Once the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) network linking all the cameras is established, the focus will be on crime prevention, detection and traffic regulation. “We will effectively use the live visuals to ease traffic congestion and minimise road accidents. More than 3,000 people died in road accidents and hundreds of others were injured since 2010,” a police official said and added that the Poonnamallee High Road, GST Road, Maduravoyal Bypass Road, GNT Road and CTH Road had emerged the most treacherous stretches in recent years.
