High-end CCTVs in civic facilities a welcome move

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If you enter a BMC facility this week, CCTV cameras will follow your every move. The civic body has decided to implement AI-powered surveillance across its buildings to enhance security, enabling facial recognition and visitor tracking. A budget provision of Rs 18.21 crore has been made for these installations.

Around 150 AI-based CCTV cameras are already operational at BYL Nair, KEM, Sion, and R N Cooper hospitals. Now, BMC plans to extend this surveillance to maternity homes and peripheral hospitals. An official explained that these cameras can track a person from entry to exit, identify vehicle numbers, and provide official statistics. If an area under surveillance goes dark, the system alerts officials about insufficient lighting.

In August 2024, the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors went on strike, demanding better security after a doctor's murder at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College. Following discussions, the BMC agreed to enhance vigilance by installing AI-based CCTV cameras. One always welcomes technology upgrades that can enhance surveillance, help in investigation, and increase deterrence and safety. The cameras installed should be of the highest quality and help in sharp surveillance.

Often, there is a tendency to increase infra or facilities, look at enhancing amenities, but there is insufficient emphasis on quality. We also have to ensure that maintenance is done so that the cameras work well consistently.

Having gone up a level, must also mean that areas that do not have AI camera technology have good, regular surveillance cameras in place. We have several instances where investigations have become doubly difficult because surveillance has been missing or the pictures have been blurry.

The cameras installed inside civic hospitals is a welcome move. More power to superior surveillance, facial recognition but ensure that the city, which may not have AI cameras, has comprehensive quality third eyes and adequate lighting.