32 new cameras at Zaveri Bazaar put on police CCTV map

The 32 cameras, which cover all of Zaveri Bazaar, were paid for by the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, the largest traders association in the historic market (File)

A CCTV camera network was launched on Wednesday in Zaveri Bazaar, which has often come under terrorist attacks, the last time being in 2011. The 32 cameras that have been integrated with the police’s citywide CCTV network, are among the first few privately set up ones to do so.

The 32 cameras, which cover all of Zaveri Bazaar, were paid for by the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, the largest traders association in the historic market. A private contractor worked along with L&T to ensure the cameras are of the same standard as the 5,000 that cover the rest of the city. Two of the 32 cameras are Pan Tilt and Zoom cameras while the rest are still cameras.

Dyaneshwar Chavan, DCP, Zone II, said technicians from both firms surveyed the entire market, identifying spots not covered by police cameras and areas that needed surveillance. The association had installed a layer of security cameras in the area in 2006. Mukesh Mehta, the association national president, said the first attempt at enhancing surveillance was unsuccessful.

Four months ago, the associ-ation and the police began work on a new CCTV network after it was prioritised by Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar.“The market is not spread over a very large area but lakhs of people come here daily. That has put a load on infrastructure, which is 200 years old and gives an opportunity to terrorists to strike. We want to prevent that. Security in the area is still not 100 per cent foolproof but this is the first step towards it,” said Chavan.

Zaveri Bazaar, the hub of gold trading in the country, is among the most sensitive areas in the city and has been the target of three terror attacks in the past two decades. The market was among 13 sites where serial bomb blasts took place in March 1993. It was attacked again in 2003, when twin explosions at the market and at the Gateway of India killed 52 people and injured 100. In 2011, three explosions ripped through Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar, killing 26 people and injuring 130.

Padsalgikar, who inaugurated the CCTV network Wednesday at the association office near Mumbadevi temple, said the cameras would help the police prevent crime in the area. “Our enemies always want us to be economically weak because they can’t see us progressing. The bomb blasts that took place here stopped activity for one or two days but Zaveri Bazaar was back to normal within 48 hours,” said Padsalgikar.

After the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel in Colaba and the Oberoi Trident Hotel in Nariman Point, Zaveri Bazaar’s is the only private CCTV network to be integrated with the Mumbai Police’s network. The feed from the new cameras will be monitored at the police control room (PCR).

Padsalgikar said that he expected that the cameras at the Bazaar would soon be upgraded to automatically trigger alarms on spotting suspicious activity, apart from incorporating facial recognition and automatic number plate detection technologies. Mehta said the biggest concern while the project was being planned was the threat of cameras being damaged or tampered with. “There were people who cut wires of our old cameras and would steal them. This time they have been set at different angles so that they won’t be easily accessible,” he said.

Sharad Naik, senior inspector, LT Marg police station, said the police were in talks with other smaller traders’ associations to install cameras meeting the police specifications so that they too could be integrated with the PCR.

The police’s 5,000-strong network was formally launched by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in October last year. The recommendation to cover the city with high-quality surveillance cameras was made in the aftermath of the November 2008 terror attacks. Bids were invited for the project in 2012 and 2013 but the process could not completed. L&T was finally awarded the bid in 2015 and the cameras were installed at 1,500 locations.