Latest news with #Thalassery-based
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Kochi corporation to launch centralized CCTV surveillance to prevent garbage dumping
Kochi: Kochi corporation is all set to launch a centralized CCTV surveillance system aimed at preventing garbage dumping in public spaces. Under the project, 148 CCTV cameras, with two in each of the city's 74 divisions, are being installed and will be monitored from a centralized facility at Yathra Auditorium near Marine Drive boat jetty. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The project is being implemented by the corporation in association with a private agency under build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. "We already installed more than 130 cameras. Remaining work is progressing. The monitoring facility is almost fully functional. We expect that the facility can be inaugurated by the end of the month," said corporation health standing committee chairman T K Asharaf. "Details of waste dumping can be monitored on a real-time basis. Then, information can be passed on to councillors and health officials. This will make action against offenders easy. We will be taking stringent action against repeat offenders. Measures including confiscating vehicles used for waste dumping are also under consideration," Asharaf said. The surveillance network is being implemented by Thalassery-based Southern Electronics and Security Systems, which is also tasked with installing 150 CCTV cameras for city police. In return for setting up the system, the company has been granted permission to install 600 advertisement boards, each measuring 12 sq ft, on poles within the corporation limits for seven years. Revenue from these boards will go to the company.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Kochi to get 300 CCTV cameras for round-the-clock monitoring of waste dumping, crime hotspots
Crime hot spots within the Kochi City police limits are set to come under round-the-clock surveillance, with at least 150 CCTV cameras to be installed within the next three months. The cameras, connected to a centralised control room in Thevara, will receive live footage. The installation of cameras for the Kochi City police marks the second phase of the project, under which Thalassery-based Southern Electronics and Security Systems has agreed to install 300 CCTV cameras — 150 for the Kochi Corporation to track and penalise illegal waste dumping, and 150 for the Kochi City police to monitor crime. The company has already installed 120 of the 150 cameras meant for the Corporation, with a minimum of two cameras proposed in each of the 74 divisions. 'Cameras are being installed in areas identified as waste dumping hot spots and are connected to a centralised control room set up at the Corporation's Yatri Nivas. In return, the company will be allowed to generate revenue by advertising on Cochin Smart Mission Limited [CSML] poles,' said T.K. Asharaf, health standing committee chairperson. The project will be inaugurated shortly. Pradeep Kumar, managing director, Southern Electronics and Security Systems, said the company would be responsible for the maintenance of the cameras and the operation of the control room for seven years, as per the project being implemented under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model. 'The remaining 30 cameras will be installed shortly. We have already set up the control room, which is equipped with six 55-inch monitors and manned by two persons in three shifts,' he added. Action is already being taken based on CCTV camera footage. Where vehicles are involved, the Motor Vehicles department is contacted to collect the owner's address, which is then passed on to the health inspectors and the councillors concerned. The company, he said, will be allowed to advertise on 600 CSML poles. However, Mr. Asharaf put the total number at 400, with advertising on the first lot of 200 poles to be permitted once the commitment of installing 150 cameras for the Corporation is fulfilled, and the rest upon the completion of camera installation for the Kochi City police. Senior Congress councillor Antony Kureethara said that the number of poles permitted for advertising should be restricted, especially in the wake of the High Court's direction against the disfiguring of public spaces. 'Two cameras in a division will be inadequate since the number of waste dumping hot spots has gone up. Ideally, the Corporation should have directly implemented the project with better coverage, considering how much funds are otherwise being wasted. Also, rather than a centralised control room, it would have been more efficient if the CCTV cameras were monitored across the seven Corporation zones,' he added.
