HD cams to scale up security at 11 Karnataka railway stations

BENGALURU: The Ministry of Railways plans to instal internet protocol (IP)-based video surveillance system (VSS) at railway stations under South Western Railways (SWR) jurisdiction, to improve safety. VSS is being installed in waiting areas, reservation counters, parking zones, entrances and exits, platforms, foot over bridges and booking offices. The Railway Board has approved installation of the system in 983 stations across India under the Nirbhaya fund, an SWR release said. VSS was recently set up at 11 railway stations. Besides, 4K resolution ultra HD cameras for facial recognition have been deployed for the first time at these stations, along with video recording and storage facility.

To have better coverage and a clearer image, four types of full HD cameras – Dome type (for indoor areas), Bullet type (for platforms), Pan Tilt Zoom type (for parking areas) and Ultra HD- 4K cameras (for crucial locations) are being provided. CCTV camera live feeds are displayed on multiple screens at the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control room for monitoring. Footage can be viewed from any web browser.

The facility to view the camera recordings are provided at three levels — at stations, divisional security control rooms of the divisions, and central viewing at the zonal security control room of SWR. VSS has been provided at Bengaluru Cantonment (27 cameras), Bangarpet (36), Belagavi (40), Ballari (37), Hassan (35), Hosapete (22), Hubballi (19), Krishnarajapuram (30), Shivamogga (29), SSP Nilayam (25) and Vasco da Gama (40). Already, three stations in SWR -- KSR Bengaluru, Yeshwantpur and Mysuru -- have been provided with Integrated Security System (ISS).

Security personnel will be available at the control rooms to monitor the VSS system round the clock. Backup storage of up to one month is also available. Ajay Kumar Singh, General Manager, SWR, on Thursday inaugurated the Integrated Security Command and Control Centre for VSS at Rail Soudha. Singh said that six more stations will be provided VSS by March 2021 — Vijayapura, Gadag, Davanagere, Birur, Banaswadi and Kengeri.