Hyderabad: The 14.5-km Necklace Road stretch and its vicinities will be under constant vigil now on, with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) installing 240 high-resolution CCTV cameras.
The move is aimed at keeping a watch on two-wheeler riders, who often perform stunts on the stretch, and those involved in obscene activity. The cameras will cover Sanjeevaiah Park, the tallest tricolour near the park, eateries, typographical structure ‘Love Hyd’ and locations abutting People’s Plaza.
The surveillance network will also help police keep a watch on events held at People’s Plaza, which are attended by large crowds. Moreover, the police can also probe into the factors contributing in road accidents on the stretch.
Following a request from the police, HMDA carried out a detailed survey of the areas where surveillance cameras had to be installed. “We examined the areas twice before installing the pole-mounted cameras, covering the entire Necklace Road,” an official said.
On an average, around one lakh people use the stretch every day. The official said the inputs given by the police were also taken into consideration before commencing the works which were awarded to Telangana State Technology Services Limited (TSTSL). “We spent Rs 3.40 crore on installing the cameras which function round-the-clock and withstand all weather conditions,” he said.
The surveillance camera network is connected to monitors installed at the HMDA office. A request was made to the police to earmark space for shifting the monitors to either Lake police station or any other place convenient to them to continuously monitor the footage. A response is awaited from the police who started collecting footage for investigation.
Moreover, Necklace Road, upper Tank Bund and NTR Gardens Road come under the jurisdiction of Gandhinagar, Ramgopalpet, Saifabad and Lake police stations. “The monitors of surveillance cameras should be with the police, rather than keeping them at the HMDA office,” the official said.