Secure move: Civic body to install CCTVs at STPs, crucial junctions

Pimpri Chinchwad: High resolution CCTV cameras will be installed at all sewage treatment plants, pump houses and all important road junctions by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

The civic body has already installed cameras on the municipal corporation premises, all civic buildings, hospitals as well as the water treatment plant located in Nigdi.

While the corporation will have a control centre for all the STPs, the cameras installed at road junctions will be linked to the nearest police stations.

Civic officials said the cameras are being installed at STPs for the first time.

The installation process, estimated to cost Rs2.3 crore, will be completed in four months.

The number of cameras required for the project is not known yet.

Initially, the cameras will be installed at the A divisional office — comprising Queens Town, Sudarshannagar, New SKF colony, Bhoir colony, Empire Estate, Chinchwad station, Mohan Nagar, Aishwaryam Society, Jai Ganesh Vision, Bajaj Auto, Akurdi gaothan, Ganga Nagar, Vahatuk Nagari, Parmar Park, LIC colony, Sindhu Nagar, Mohan Nagar, HDFC colony, and Nigdi-Pradhikaran. A private agency will be deployed for techinical inspection of the cables, poles and CCTV cameras.

The contractor will also be undertaking quarterly preventive maintenance and fix all breakdowns. The video recordings should be made available on request from the PCMC or the police. Installation of the cameras is also part of the Smart City project.

The Pune police commissionerate, which covers Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, has installed CCTV cameras at all road junctions.

However, these cameras have been installed to monitor traffic and traffic rule violations.

Meanwhile, the PCMC has installed cameras at junctions for security purposes, said the civic officials.

Sanket Dalvi, a Nigdi resident, said the municipal corporation has taken a decisive step. "CCTV footage will help the police and PCMC. It will go a long way in maintaining security,"

Another resident from Chinchwad, Prashant Salve, said installation of the cameras at STPs and road junctions is part of a security measure.

If any person commits anti-social activity at the junctions, he would be seen in the CCTV footage.