In an effort to bust crime, apprehend law-breakers easily and make Rajiv Gandhi Salai or Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) safer, the Chennai City Police has asked IT companies along the road to install CCTV cameras outside their gates.
The decision was announced at a meeting held on Friday between IT companies and police personnel from Adyar police district. The meeting started at 3.15 p.m. and went on for nearly two hours. “It was a routine meeting to understand the problems faced by employees of IT companies on OMR,” said R. Sudhakar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Adyar.
There are around 50 IT companies under the Adyar police district, and 120 representatives from different companies participated in the meeting.
“As of now the companies have installed cameras inside their premises, now we have asked them to install one outside their gate. This was one of the decisions taken during the meeting,” said Mr. Sudhakar.
Monitoring of these cameras will happen from within the respective company premises. The police plan to use the footage to solve any crime that happens on the main road. “Many of the employees return home late after work, so it is essential to ensure their safety. We can also find out in which direction the criminal escaped after committing a crime using footage from all the cameras,” said Mohammad Aslam, assistant commissioner of police, Thoraipakkam.
Besides, as many employees may feel hesitant to approach the police and lodge complaints, the police have asked the companies to install suggestion and complaint boxes in their offices.
“Some women may not feel comfortable to file complaints about the harassment they face. They can write their concerns down and drop them in the box. A police patrol team will collect them and take necessary action,” said Mr. Aslam.
This apart, issues such as sharing information with police through phone calls and SMS, how employees should avoid getting into unknown vehicles, providing pepper spray to women employees and the regulation of pick-up vans and buses outside IT parks were also discussed.
“Most employees were concerned about traffic congestion, drunken driving, traffic violations, overloading of share autorickshaws and lack of police patrol teams outside the MRTS railway stations,” said a participant.
S. Balakrishnan, executive (administrative solutions), of 3i Infotech Limited on OMR, suggested the police or transport authorities counsel autorickshaw drivers on safe driving.
“The autorickshaw drivers can be given ID cards with proper authorisation by the vehicle owner. This will help us identify whether the driver is genuine,” Mr. Balakrishnan said.
