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Corruption check: 170 govt buildings to be under CCTV surveillance
After roads and streets across Chennai, all government buildings are likely to come under CCTV surveillance soon.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The Public Works Department (PWD), Buildings, recently sent a proposal to the State government for installing surveillance cameras at 170 government buildings.
This step has been taken in the light of the Madras High Court’s direction to mount CCTV cameras in government offices with an aim to curb the practice of corruption.
A senior PWD official said, “Currently, pockets of government buildings are covered under the surveillance system. This includes the Madras High court building and Chepauk Palace. We have submitted a proposal to the government where we are planning to bring 170 buildings under its ambit.” This includes all taluk offices, sub registrar offices, hostels, medical colleges among the others.
The official added that this will also help reduce the number of petty thefts occurring inside the government offices. “The CCTV cameras are fixed at selective spots in Chepauk Palace. After installation, thefts inside government offices have come down drastically in recent times. Under this scheme, the coverage will be expanded to other places too,” he added.
Although a total estimate of the project is yet to be approved, the initial works would begin from the Adi Dravidar Welfare and Tribal Welfare Hostels located in the city.
The decision follows a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding installation of CCTV cameras in government offices to help curtail corruption by identifying the touts and brokers who frequent the department and also the officials who meet them.
Rs 3.17 cr tender for cameras on Marina
Beachgoers can soon feel safer on the sands of Marina Beach, as the Greater Chennai Corporation is set to install CCTV cameras at the popular destination for residents of the city.
“We are setting up a Command Control Centre (CCC) at Ripon Building to integrate the traffic, safety, disaster management and surveillance of the city. As a part of the CCC, we have planned to install eight CCTV cameras in Marina Beach and cameras will be linked with the control centre,” a Chennai Corporation official said.
The official added that the eight CCTV cameras would augment cameras already installed by the police department. Meanwhile, the civic body has floated a Rs 3.17 crore tender inviting private consultants to implement, operate and maintain the CCC. The development has come at a time when the civic body, along with the city police, is framing by-laws for the beach vendors to regulate them. “The new CCTV cameras will be installed at major crowding spots on the beach with rotation features to cover roads and sands,” the official said.
The Chennai Corporation has also identified as many as 120 spots in the city, where the dumping of construction waste is rampant and has decided to install CCTV cameras in these areas that include banks of rivers.
“We gave Rs 1.60 crore earned by auctioning of abandoned vehicles to the city police. The police will install CCTV cameras with the fund and the installed cameras will be integrated with Command Control Centre,” the official added.
- Pockets of govt buildings covered under the surveillance system
- This includes the Madras High Court building and Chepauk palace
- The 170 buildings to be brought under surveillance include all taluk offices, sub registrar offices, hostels, medical colleges among the others
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