Surveillance cameras to be installed at Bangalore railway station

Surveillance cameras to be installed at Bangalore railway station

The Hindu

Step taken as part of increased security measures

Bangalore: In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Indian Institute of Science, security was stepped up at the railway stations and airport, but things soon returned to normal. Compared with railway terminals such as Chennai, there is no checking using metal detectors or random frisking here.

Things are about to change with the South Western Railway geared up to install closed circuit television cameras at the City Railway Station. The cameras will be installed at strategic points, giving an overview of the platforms, people getting in and out of the compartments aches and those on the concourse. The cameras will swivel 180 degrees at regular intervals.

The railways may install 36 CCTV cameras across the platforms, the lobby area at the entrance, the parking lots, all entry and exit points, restaurants and other places which are usually crowded. A control room with screens corresponding to the cameras is ready to be commissioned, according to top railway officials. A Delhi-based firm is installing the surveillance system.

After studying the working of the system at the City station, the railways may go in for CCTVs at other important stations in the State. The Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel are being trained in handling the surveillance equipment.

The Railway Police at the City station already take security measures such as videographing passengers in the general compartments of long distance trains.

This was apparently decided upon after a bomb scare on the Rani Chennamma Express on New Year's Eve and was part of the security upgradation. While there are computerised records of passengers travelling in the reserved first and second class compartments, no records exist for those in the unreserved compartments. The video recording is made just before the trains are about to leave and the railways store the tapes for a specified period of time. This system is likely to continue till the CCTV cameras are in place.