West Bengal: Police amp up CCTV surveillance to keep an eye on Siliguri corridor

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], August 5 : In order to strengthen electronic surveillance, Siliguri Metropolitan Police on Thursday installed 88 CCTV cameras under the "Najardari project" at 31 locations around the city.
The CCTV cameras were operationalised on the 11th raising day of Siliguri Police Commissionerate.
Besides the city locations, surveillance through CCTV cameras will also be made on highways.
The stretch will cover Bihar More, close to the India-Nepal border and Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat, close to the India-Bangladesh border.
Gaurav Sharma, Commissioner, Siliguri Metropolitan Police said, "Given the strategic locations of Siliguri, the electronic surveillance played a crucial role. Located along the chicken's neck, known as an important commercial hub, the town is located near the borders of Nepal and Bangladesh."
Sharma said around 30-40 cameras were installed in the areas covered by each police station under the Siliguri Metropolitan Police, which comprises an area of 640.62 sq km and has jurisdiction of eight police stations.
Along with the police, Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) and some non-government bodies have also set up CCTV cameras. The cameras installed in the town are bullet, PTZ and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
The official further said CCTV cameras play important roles to detect crime as well as act as a deterrent for crime. There has been a significant floating population and movement of tourists in the city. In such a situation cameras boost the surveillance network.
The 'chicken's neck' or the 22-km-wide Siliguri corridor is the only land link to the northeastern states of India.