Hyderabad safest city, says DGP Mahender Reddy

DGP inaugurates 2,058 CCTV cameras as part of a Mega Community CCTV camera initiative

Hyderabad: Director-General of Police M Mahender Reddy on Monday said Hyderabad stood first when it came to surveillance camera networks in the country and was among the most surveilled cities in the world as well. He was speaking after inaugurating a network of 2,058 CCTV cameras as part of a Mega Community CCTV camera initiative at the Gachibowli police station. These cameras were installed at 111 spots at an estimated cost of Rs 11.3 crore.

Of the 2,058 cameras, 1,145 cameras were installed in Madhapur zone, 508 in Shamshabad and 405 in Balanagar zone. Among these, community partnership helped in the installation of 1,564 cameras costing Rs 7.3 crore, while another 494 cameras, costing Rs 4.1 crore were installed with contribution from the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSIIC).

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“These cameras have been installed at all strategic locations across the commissionerate. They will be geo-tagged too. Surveillance cameras help in the deterrence of criminals apart from solving cases sooner,” Mahender Reddy said, adding that one camera was equal to 100 policemen. The DGP urged citizens and residents of colonies and small bastis to come forward to install more cameras in their areas and junctions for their protection.

“Hyderabad, including all the three police commissionerates, stands first with the most number of CCTVs and is the safest city to live in according to various surveys. We are the pioneers in using the latest technology in crime prevention and detection apart from traffic enforcement as well,” the DGP said, adding that law enforcing agencies should be one step ahead of criminals in using technology.

With the directions from the Telangana government, the police have set a target of doubling the number of CCTV cameras in the capital city of Hyderabad to almost double the number of cameras, from the existing 6 lakh to 10 lakh, he said, adding that the police wanted CCTV cameras everywhere in the city, covering every nook and cranny of the city. The DGP also thanked citizens and managements of corporate companies for their support in installing cameras.

Aim is to install 2.5L CCTVs: Sajjanar

Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Monday said criminals dreaded to commit offences in the city and that there were instances of gangs migrating to other States because of the fear of the law.

According to officials, as of now, Cyberabad has 1,26,760 cameras, including 18,487 Community CCTV cameras and 1,08,73 cameras under the Nenu Saitham CCTV project. Sajjanar said the aim was to take the number up to 2.5 lakh CCTV cameras by the end of 2021. For this, he urged corporate companies to come forward and donate towards the CCTV project.

“Our DGP M Mahendar Reddy prevailed on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to bring donations under CSR. Because of his efforts, now all the donations made to CCTV project are considered as CSR Projects,” Sajjanar said, adding that maintenance of the CCTVs was now being taken up internally.

“We don’t have to depend on external help. We have 19 trained constables in this area. They are very efficient and competent enough to handle any problems,” he said.

CCTVs coming in handy to detect crimes: Rachakonda CP

As part of expanding the surveillance network, cameras were installed at strategic locations covering entries and exits, main routes and crime-prone areas at various spots across the commissionerate, said Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat.

Officials said the commissionerate had nearly 1.5 lakh surveillance cameras installed so far and efforts were on to increase the number further in the days to come.

“In the recent past, snatching cases, a house burglary and robbery cases were detected using footage from the surveillance cameras,” Bhagwat said, adding that surveillance cameras had become an important aspect of modern-day policing with a majority of cases being detected with their help.

“Almost 60 per cent of the crimes are being detected with the help of CCTV footage,” he said, urging citizens and public representatives to come forward to install more cameras in their areas.

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