Chennai: Gangs operate freely at stations in absence of CCTV cameras
According to railway sources, of 18 stations between Chennai Beach and Tambaram, only five stations have CCTV camera network.
Chennai: Railway stations may provide accident free and cost effective journey, but safety of passengers at railway stations in Chennai is always a serious issue going unchecked, said an informed official.
According to railway sources, of 18 stations between Chennai Beach and Tambaram, only five stations have CCTV camera network. Only major stations, including Chennai Central, with 85 cameras followed by Egmore (48), Tambaram (26) Mambalam (14) cameras and Chennai Beach (12) have CCTV network. In the case of Chennai Central - Avadi - Gummidipoondi, the CCTV network is relatively better.
A survey is underway and soon based on fund allocation, new CCTV cameras will be placed and mostly all stations will soon get CCTV cameras. The biggest task is to maintain CCTV system through annual maintenance. Funds should be allocated for regular maintenance, otherwise the network will start throwing errors leading to slow failure, sources warned.
When contacted on the delay in installing CCTV cameras, a Southern Railway official said the priority of railways is to operate trains without accidents and then comes safety at railway premises. We are attending to it, the official said.