1,000 eyes to guard South Mumbai from today

Seven years after the barbaric 26/11 terrorist attacks, the city is set to witness the inauguration of the phase-I of the pan-Mumbai CCTV camera surveillance network - wherein 1,000 cameras will cover half of South Mumbai.

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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be inaugurating the phase-I in presence of various ministers and IPS officers at the Taj Hotel, Colaba, today.

Crediting the BJP-led state government for completing the project, Fadnavis said, "Proud to announce that our government will launch ‘Go Live' phase-I of Mumbai CCTV network on November 30. It has been pending for the last seven years and we completed it in less than one year."

A few of the locations across SoBo where the CCTV cameras have been installed. Pic/Satej Shinde and Pradeep Dhivar

Commenting on the installation of cameras, police officials said the phase-I will cover most of South Mumbai. They added - including phase-I - the project envisages installation of 6,000 CCTV cameras across Mumbai.

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Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is implementing the project. The remaining two phases will be launched in April and October of 2016. While the control room for the phase-I has been set up in the South Region Additional Commissioner Office in Nagpada, access to the system will be provided across local police stations as well.

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A police officer said, "High-Definition (HD) CCTV cameras, capable of capturing even the minute details, are being used for the project. This will help us keep a tab and nab miscreants trying to give a slip to the police by jumping jurisdictions. While inauguration is just the first step, every thing from thereon will depend on maintenance. Several cameras in the city are lying defunct for want of upkeep."