Day after Duronto dacoity, Piyush Goyal announces CCTV safety network

In a bid to intensify the security net on Indian railway, the national transporter is planning a web of closed-circuit cameras (CCTVs) at railway stations and inside train coaches. Though the end result of integrating the two networks of CCTVs will be a time-consuming process, the process will be kickstarted with an initial installation of 12,000 CCTVs. The decision follows the dacoity inside 3rd AC compartment of Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express on Thursday.

This was announced by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at an event held at BJP’s Dadar office on Friday. “Initially we will be installing 12,000 CCTVs which would be integrated with WiFi,” said Piyush Goyal.

Sources said as of now the plans are sketchy. But roughly what they intend to do is to make the police forces — both RPF and GRP — aware of the situation inside the train. The CCTVs installed inside coaches of both mainline and suburban will transfer the feed captured inside the coaches into the hardware kept at railway stations using WiFi.

This will happen when the train is within a certain radius of the railway station when the CCTVs inside the train and the computer system present at the station will be merged using WiFi. Initially this will be tried at major stations where bulk hardware shall be set up.

Meanwhile, an endorsement... Popular author Chetan Bhagat has tweeted images of Katra railway station in J&K, praising the facility for its cleanliness. “The shiny clean floors in the pictures are not at an airport or a station abroad. This is the railway station in Katra” he tweeted