Two yrs on,Anand Vihar station awaits CCTV system

Over two years after Anand Vihar railway station was opened to the public with the promise that it would have an integrated security system,even CCTV cameras have not been installed.

Over two years after Anand Vihar railway station was opened to the public with the promise that it would have an integrated security system,even CCTV cameras have not been installed. The Railways is now in the process of testing a batch of 47 CCTV cameras it had bought,after it missed the 2010 Commonwealth Games deadline to install the high-tech security system.

Around 520 CCTV cameras were bought for all the 10 stations in and around the Capital. Our signalling department has set up an expert committee to check whether the procured material matches the required specifications or not. The work will be completed by May for better monitoring of the summer traffic, said S K Sharma,spokesperson,Northern Railway.

A senior railway police official said the revised deadline to install the CCTV cameras was November 2011,but the Northern Railways missed this one too. The CCTV cameras were supposed to be installed by last year. The construction of the control room too was completed along with the railway station in 2009. But,till now,only the wiring and cabling has been done,and there are no monitors or computers installed yet.

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The Anand Vihar Railway station handles around 15 trains and over 45,000 passengers on a daily basis. It is one of the 10 stations proposed to have the integrated security system during the Commonwealth Games. The system was installed in the New Delhi railway station in 2010.

The system includes dedicated control rooms monitoring the stations through CCTV cameras,use of hand-held metal detectors and door-frame metal detectors. The system also requires the presence of a bomb detection and disposal team,that is expected to be deployed at the stations for emergency situations.

The equipment has been purchased from Hong Kong and modified according to Indian needs,so it is taking a little more time to check them. Once the tests are completed they will be installed. These are highly sophisticated equipment,and have a special feature that will help detect unattended luggage and alert station officials with a beep, Sharma said.

(The reporter is a student of EXIMS,New Delhi)

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