LUCKNOW: While a drone camera will be part of the security set-up this Republic Day, Mission CCTV City has Lucknow being fitted with other high-tech cameras to improve law and order on the roads.

Smile, you're on camera' should be the mantra followed by Lucknowites in the days to come. For the Lucknow Police and District Administration have their eyes on you from CCTV surveillance to drone cameras, all's being used by the authorities to keep a check on violations in the city. Innumerable signages have been put up across the city warning us that we're on camera, and the drones are soon going to be a regular feature too.

Drone Cameras

The drone camera has already made its debut in the city, with the District Administration deploying the device for surveillance during the assembly byelection in September, during Muharram and also during the Lucknow Mahotsav. And going by its effectiveness, it will again be used for surveillance during the Republic Day parade in the city. “We are planning to use two drones on the route of the parade. Before the parade, the buildings around the area will also be surveyed, and while the march is on, we would be keeping a strict vigil by means of these drone cameras,“ says city DM, Raj Shekhar.

While drones are currently being used only on special occasions, the Lucknow police is planning to use them on a daily basis to keep a check on law and order in the city. “Presently, we've acquired five drones on a demo basis and the funds have been sanctioned by the government. The drones will give us a complete overview of Lucknow. They will assist us in checking crimes and keeping a track on criminals ­ for instance, if a criminal is fleeing, the drone will give us his exact location. Then, we plan to check traffic violations through these drone cameras. Thirdly , we plan to use them if a hostage situation arises.The drone can fly over and give us a view of what's happening inside. We hope to start using the drones regularly by the first week of February,“ says SSP, Lucknow, Yashasvi Yadav. The drone cameras, which can cost up to Rs 6 lakhs each, can fly up to 600 metres in a one-kilometre radius.

CCTV cameras

The city might be flooded with 'Aap camera ki nazar mein hai' signboards put up in almost all localities, but you still can't guess the number of CCTV cameras that have been installed throughout - 4000 presently and another 5000 to come! “My vision is to make Lucknow India's first CCTV city. In the next 45 days, 9000 cameras will be in place to check law and order violations in the city,“ says SSP Yashasvi Yadav, who is behind the initiative.

“There are two parallel projects - one centred around traffic, and the other to check street crimes. Under the Traffic Surveillance Project, 300 advanced CCTV cameras have been installed. They are PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) cameras, with the cost of each being approximately Rs 1 lakh. The other project is to bring down street crime. Under that, 9000 cameras will be installed, of which 4000 are already functioning and the rest 5000 will be installed in the next one and half months.This will greatly bring down street crimes, and it has already started showing its effectiveness,“ he adds. Elaborating further, Yadav says, “There are plenty of CCTV cameras installed in city hospitals and offices. We plan to consolidate the feeds from all CCTV cameras in the city and monitor it at the Modern Police Control Room in Gomtinagar.“

But how is it possible to keep a check on 9000 feeds coming from different areas? There's a plan for that too. “We are planning to incorporate Video Analytical Capability. For example, if there is a stampede-like situation, the computer can detect that and automatically bring it to the monitoring officer's notice. Later on, we'll add face detection features too, which will help us in nabbing criminals. If an offender, whose picture is in our database, comes on one of the cameras, it will be brought to our notice,“ adds Yadav.

