Visakhapatnam: Vizag will be the first city in Andhra Pradesh with maximum CCTV coverage. As many as 2,100 CCTV cameras of four categories will keep a hawk’s eye on all important areas and traffic junctions in the city. The Vizag city has a population of over 20 lakh and it has been growing leaps and bounds in terms of vehicular population and is also hosting maximum number of national and international events. In a move which could help accelerate Vizag's transformation into a smart city, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is all set to install over 500 CCTV cameras under the Smart City Project by March 2018 and the city police would install 1,638 CCTV cameras as a part of the AP fibre grid project.
A senior police officer said with several CCTV cameras, the city police will not only be able to monitor but also prevent any untoward incident or law and order situation. Of the total 2,100 CCTV cameras, most will be useful for surveillance purposes while a few cameras will identify vehicles by reading the number plates. Cops believe that the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras would help them in curbing crimes like vehicle thefts and rash driving. Similarly, some cameras will be set-up to identify the vehicles who jumps traffic signals and a few cameras will help the police to track the criminals by facials recognition. Sources said that a private firm Matrix will install the CCTV cameras and have also planned to install software called video analysing to give real-time traffic to commuters to use alternative roads to reach their destinations.
