There was a time when Karimnagar was branded a Naxalite-infested district, leaving people in constant fear of law and order problems. But, as per the Ease of the Index survey, the findings of which were released on Monday, Karimnagar town has bagged the fourth spot among 111 cities in the country in the safety and security category!
Among other cities in the State, Hyderabad bagged 21st rank and Warangal 49th.
After the district police force was upgraded into a Commissionerate in October 2016, it has made a lot of progress in terms of ensuring the safety of residents.
Improved surveillance
The police have installed around 1,200 CCTV cameras across the town as well as in other important mandals of the district. They have ensured that hotels, cinema halls, businesses, hospitals, educational institutions, shopping malls and residential colonies set up surveillance systems and link them to police command control.
Above all, they have taken strict measures to check drunk driving and open consumption of liquor by conducting regular checks and using drone camera surveillance. So far, over 1,000 persons have been convicted and sent to jail for drunk driving.
In the wake of youths assembling in localities during the late hours, the police have controlled illegal movement in the town by conducting ‘Operation Night Safety’.
Hawk Eye downloads
After Hyderabad, Karimnagar tops in the number of downloads for Hawk Eye, an app that seeks to turn common people into ‘Citizen Police’ and involve them in curbing unlawful activities. Over 49,000 people in Karimnagar have downloaded the app.
The 24x7 blue colt teams’ movement and regular cordon-and-search operations in each locality has helped curtail illegal activities. Police have also controlled eve-teasing through decoy SHE teams and arrested 300 persons so far.
Commissioner of Police V.B. Kamalasan Reddy said Karimnagar has emerged the fourth safest place in the country because of coordinated effort of the police and residents. “We will aim for the first position by further improving our services to the people,” he said.
