Thiruvananthapuram: Most surveillance cams out of action

Thiruvananthapuram: The surveillance cameras in the capital city are not of much help in stopping various crimes as most of them are not functioning. The police say that out of the 300 cameras installed by Keltron, only half are working. Hence the police depend on private cameras to pursue crimes and accident cases.

But a top police official told DC that in another six months, when the city becomes 'smart,' digital Internet Protocol (IP) cameras will be set up replacing the existing analogue Closed Circuit (CC) cameras.

The control room of the police surveillance cameras is set up opposite the secretariat. Currently, 12 people man the cameras round- the-clock. Keltron which installed the cameras was given the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) also.

"The government could not pay Rs 60 lakh as AMC. We slap almost 600 petty cases against erring motorists daily. The Motor Vehicle Department's Automated Speed Violation Detection System (SVDS) cameras on the Kawdiar-Raj Bhavan stretch helped the police to identify who was behind the wheels in the accident involving Dr. Sriram Venkitraman," the official said.

But S. P. Gopakumar, deputy general manager, Keltron communication complex at Monvila, said that only 15 surveillance cameras out of 272 set up by it in the city are functioning. Out of them, 22 cameras were installed by Trivandrum Development Authority with the help of the city corporation as part of the Killiyar mission. But the TDA incurs huge power charges," said Gopakumar.

The AMC given to them by the Kerala police had ended on January 2018. Keltron had sought an extension of the contract, but the government turned it down as it did not want to invest further in the existing analogue CC cameras.

The 22 cameras have another eight to 10 more years of warranty. Once the defunct cameras are repaired and the dues are paid to the KSEB, they will resume functioning. In certain areas, two to three cameras have been connected from a particular unit where the power bill comes to Rs 700 - Rs 1,000 per month.  For all the 22 cameras, the power bill comes to Rs 22, 000 which has not been paid.