The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Surveillance camera that does not work!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 05, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Surveillance camera that does not work!

Marri Ramu

— Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

Surveillance camera installed at Lake Police Station in Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: You just cannot miss the irony. While terrorists are planning suicide bomber attacks, the police are keeping surveillance on suspects with defunct cameras!

The surveillance camera installed atop the much-touted Lake police station on the Necklace road has not been working for the past one year. The rotator affixed beneath the camera had failed and requires replacement. All it takes to buy a new rotator is a few thousand rupees!

But since the Government did not release the money, the camera surveillance system that covers the entire Necklace road and Tank Bund remains unutilised. The camera was connected through a wireless mode to a monitor in the Central Zone DCP’s office from where the two stretches could be monitored.

The camera was launched on February 14, 2003 to help police check on persons committing suicide by jumping into the Hussain Sagar. After its installation, the police saved lot many lives.

“I am not being the requisite fee for the camera’s maintenance and repair,” avers the contractor S. Rajanikanth. The police higher-ups do accept that the camera is very useful but were unable to give a coherent reason why the required funds were not released by the Government. Interestingly, the DGP office that was on the hit list of suicide bomber attacks of terrorist outfits comes under the jurisdiction of Central Zone. A Hyderabadi terror suspect, Raziuddin Nasir, recently arrested in Karnataka reportedly told investigators that he planned to ride into the DGP office using a two-wheeler packed with explosives.

Following this disclosure, the police had beefed up the security system at the DGP office by allowing visitors only through one gate and keeping more watchers in and around the area. Surveillance cameras were also installed to keep tab on persons moving suspiciously.

“But there is no guarantee that these cameras meet the fate of lake police station surveillance system,” a police officer said with a straight face. He has a reason for being sceptic. The police are helpless even when traffic lights develop snags since the contractor is not paid any annual maintenance amount!

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh