The CCTV camerta network would include thermal cameras to monitor Mumbai's porus coastline.
A project to install 6,000 CCTV across Mumbai is expected to be finalised in the coming 15 to 20 days, after lying in limbo for six years. The project, envisioned after the 26/11 attacks are aimed at giving the city's police force the capability to monitor the city in realtime. It was fast-tracked after it was made one of the priorities of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after he took office last year, say officials.
The installation of the cameras had been recommended by the Ram Pradhan Committee, which had been set up after the 26/11 attacks to look into lapses by the law enforcement agencies and suggest measures to prevent similar terror attacks.
A number of tenders were floated earlier, the project failed to materialise due to a host of factors such as the non-fulfillment of criteria or non-payment of bank guarantees.
"We have issued a Letter of Intent to the winning company, that is Larsen and Toubro, and we will sign the agreement in 15 to 20 days. Thereafter, it will take 21 months to complete installing the CCTV network in the entire city of Mumbai," Maharashtra's Home Secretary Vineet Agarwal told NDTV.
"These are high-end cameras with very good resolution. They are IP-based cameras, and all the data obtained will be transferred through optical fiber. The data will be completely safe at two data centres in active mode, and there will be more than 100 viewing stations," Mr Agarwal added.
Once the CCTV network is installed, all police stations would be given a feed to monitor various camera outputs under their jurisdiction. The cameras will primarily be a part of the city surveillance system, with one control room for traffic and two for law and order. The contract with the company also includes provisions for the video clips to be in a format that would be admissible in a court of law, with the aim of securing convictions.
The city's police force would also be provided with thermal CCTV cameras along the coast, to enable the detection of objects moving towards the shore, in a bid to address the porus coastline, which had been used by the 26/11 attackers. Concerns regarding the maintenance of the CCTV camera network have also been addressed, says Mr Agarwal, explaining that this has been factored into the project cost.