To curb crime, improve traffic management and help in evidence gathering, the police department has proposed to install a total of 157 CCTV cameras at 55 locations in Ambala city.
Sharing borders with Chandigarh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, the district covers an area of approximately 1,569 square km and has a population of 1,128,530, as per the 2011 census.
Ambala is also home to around 3,536 registered industrial units, including large, medium and small enterprises, manufacturing scientific and surgical instruments. The cloth market here boasts the largest cloth trading market in the subcontinent, with over 1,000 wholesale shops.
The department said many residents have migrated abroad in search of better opportunities, leaving behind their elderly parents and to ensure their safety, these CCTV networks will definitely play a crucial role.
The development comes almost a month after chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa to prepare a report on the requirement of the cameras during his Jan Samvad in Ambala.
Randhawa had apprised Khattar that there are a few cameras installed at a few intersections in the city, but are not monitored in an organised manner.
The CM, on a demand kept forward by BJP leader and councillor Sandeep Sachdeva, announced setting up an integrated command and control centre (ICCC) on lines of Karnal, Rohtak and Gurugram for live monitoring and to help the police in maintaining law and order.
A report prepared by the department said Ambala’s proximity to Punjab has made it susceptible to various security challenges, including drug-related crimes, local gang activities and cross-border crimes.
“Ambala is a significant transit point for tourists traveling to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, and Kashmir and the presence of unregulated hotels and restaurants has raised concerns about immoral trafficking activities. The town also faces significant traffic challenges due to its strategic location, with important highways connecting Delhi, Yamunanagar and Himachal Pradesh passing through the district along with G.T. Road (NH-44) which makes it very susceptible towards crimes,” it reads.
The department has shortlisted 55 busy intersections, markets, roads and other sites under the limits of four police stations where the cameras can be installed with a maximum of eight cameras at Kalka Chowk under the flyover on NH-44.
The police have also proposed the inclusion of a facial recognition system (FRS) with cameras for better surveillance that would assist in evidence gathering and can be used for criminal identification.
SP Randhawa said, “Surveillance system will be of prime importance in Ambala for safety and security of citizens especially women as well as for helping elderly/children during any emergency. We have already sent a proposal for 400 cameras at 114 locations in Cantonment, as a separate project. We are revising the estimates for both.”
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