With two watchtowers and at least a dozen surveillance cameras on the anvil, the Marina beach is set to come under the close watch of law-enforcing agencies. The Chennai Corporation has agreed in principle to create the security infrastructure based on a proposal sent by the Chennai Police.
The watchtowers are proposed to be erected behind the Labour statue and Gandhi statue. Police personnel equipped with wireless communication and binoculars would be deployed on the watchtowers. The Closed Circuit Television Network (CCTV) would be monitored by a special team at the Commissionerate, police sources said.
“The Elliots beach is already covered by surveillance cameras and we intend to extend the facility to the Marina beach. Adequate manpower has been deployed to avert crimes on these beaches,” Commissioner of Police J.K. Tripathy said.
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The vast stretch of the Marina beach that extends from Anna Memorial to Light House will also have more of high-mast lighting and mobile patrolling with the help of All Terrain Vehicles and the Mounted Branch.
The immediate cause for the police to intensify security is the case in which a six-year-old-girl, Tamanna, who was reported missing from the beach on May 11. She was found abandoned on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital by unidentified persons.
“Six children were reported missing on the Marina beach on May 11. But for Tamanna, the other five were traced in a couple of hours. For the first time in the history of the Anna Square police station, a girl reported missing could not be located on the same day,” a senior police official said, adding that efforts were on to establish police booths to assist the public in case of any exigency.
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Besides beaches, the Chennai Police have mounted surveillance on anti-social elements in other public places including malls and bus stands.