Ensure budgetary allocation for CCTV Network in city: Lok Satta

“Pressurize the Government to install a surveillance network all over Hyderabad and ensure the safety and security of its citizens.”

That is the message Lok Satta Party units in Greater Hyderabad have conveyed to their respective legislators on the eve of the Legislature’s budget session.

Giving this information in a media statement, Lok Satta Party’s Greater Hyderabad unit President Dosapati Ramu welcomed the State Cabinet’s decision to enact a law mandating installation of CCTVs by all business and industrial establishments in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. The Government should, however, set an example to others by being the first to install CCTV cameras at all public places.

In their representation, the Lok Satta units drew the legislators’ attention to the failure of the police to even identify, leave alone arrest, the culprits responsible for the Dilsukhnagar blasts on February 21, 2013 which left 17 people dead and one hundred others injured. Attributing the police failure partly to the absence of an effective surveillance network, the representation pointed out there are just 370 CCTV cameras in areas under the jurisdiction of the Hyderabad Police Commissioner and 51 in areas under the jurisdiction of the Cyberabad Police Commissioner. Of them, 34 cameras in Hyderabad and all the 51 in Cyberabad are dysfunctional.

The State Government has off and on announced its intention to install CCTV cameras all over the city. In the latest instance, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy told a Chief Ministers' conference on internal security in New Delhi on June 5 that the State Government will install 5000 CCTVs as part of strengthening security in Hyderabad.

What is unfortunate is that the State Government has not taken any follow-up action like allocation of funds and calling for tenders for installation of the system.

The representation said: “Greater Hyderabad with a population of nearly one crore and spread over hundreds of square kilometers is a growing metropolis. It has become the home for world renowned software and pharmaceutical giants, and world-class research and development laboratories. Thanks to its infrastructure, Hyderabad has become a draw for prospective industrialists and global conferences.” No wonder, it has become a target for terrorists of all hues.

Installation of a surveillance network will help police identify and arrest culprits immediately after an incident, the Lok Satta said and pointed out that US police arrested Boston bombing culprits within 48 hours, thanks to CCTV footage.

The Lok Satta told the legislators to ensure that the State Government allocates adequate funds for installation of the promised 5000 CCTVs in the current year’s budget itself and calls for tenders for the network installation.