Short-handed Pune railway police to get 46 eyes

The 34 outdated low-resolution CCTV cameras installed at Pune railway station will soon be replaced by 46 modern ones for better surveillance at the station.

After the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, the Central Railways had installed 34 CCTV cameras to cover the station area in order to increase surveillance.

However, the superintendent of Government Railway Police (GRP) of Pune, Pratapsinh Patankar, recently wrote a letter to the railway administration stating that these cameras had become outdated. Patankar also mentioned that the footage from these cameras were blurred because of poor resolution and they needed to be replaced by modern cameras.

Speaking about the replacement of cameras at Pune station, senior inspector Mahendra Rokade of Pune GRP said, “We had a meeting with railway officials in which they accepted our demand and the existing cameras will be replaced soon. In fact, we have even surveyed the Pune station area to finalise the locations to install the new cameras.”

Rokade added, “At present, the CCTV cameras are monitored by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and we have to depend on them for the CCTV footage. But after the installation of the new CCTV cameras, GRP will also get a room to monitor the footage.”

At present, the Pune railway station has a baggage scanner and door frame metal detectors installed at the entrance of platforms. However, most of the time these are unmanned and the reason for that given by the GRP is lack of manpower.

According to the officers, these cameras will help officials to keep a watch on the movement of passengers even with limited manpower.