CCTV, Panic Buttons, and Drones: Pune Police’s Plan to Secure Hills and Black Spots
Pune, 29th November 2024: After the looting of citizens going for a walk on the hills and the gang rape incident at Bopdev Ghat, the issue of hills in the city came to the fore. The then Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced at the inauguration of seven new police stations in the city that necessary separate funds would be provided to secure the hills and other black spots in the city. After that, under the guidance of Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, more than thirteen hills and more than seven black spots in the city have been identified, and the relevant places will be secured through CCTV and lighting. The report in this regard will be sent to the Maharashtra state government on Monday, December 2.
The survey conducted by the police will include Hanuman Hill, Old Katraj Tunnel Ghat, Taljai, Sutardara, ARAI Hill, Aranyeshwar Temple, Baner Hill, Bolai Mata Temple, Jogeshwari Temple, Vetalbaba Hill, Chatushrungi Hill, Bopdev Ghat, Parsi Ground, Parvati, Canal Road, and other places.
“More than thirteen hills and seven black spots in the city have been identified and the relevant places will be secured through CCTV and lighting. After another survey, a report in this regard will be sent to the Home Department on December 2”, said Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Police.
600 state-of-the-art cameras will be installed on the hills and black spots in the city. These include PTZ cameras, fixed cameras, and ANPR cameras, and cameras will also be installed to capture the faces of criminals (face reading). There will be a panic button along with cameras on the hills and black spots. As soon as the panic button is pressed, the Pune Police Control Room will be alerted. Along with this, the camera on the panic button will also start recording the video there. It will have a facility that a video of one minute before and after pressing the panic button will be recorded by that special camera. Apart from this, technology will be used so that other cameras in the area will also go on alert mode as soon as the panic button is pressed. A loud alarm will also sound in the police patrol vehicle as soon as the panic button is used so that the police on patrol will be helped to reach the relevant place immediately.
A two-way PA system (mic and speaker) will also be installed in the hilly areas. Apart from this, more than 177 bright floodlights will be installed to ensure clear visibility at night. Along with this, seven special mobile surveillance vehicles will also be deployed to ensure that the police reach the spot in the shortest possible time. All these seven police vehicles will have drone cameras.
The cost of this entire security system will be approximately Rs 70 crore, which will also include maintenance and repairs for five years. Mobile phones have a network on almost all the hills in the city. However, arrangements have been made to provide connectivity through radio frequency to keep the system operational in places where there is no network.
