Crime hot spots within Kochi City police limits will soon be under 24-hour surveillance, with at least 150 CCTV cameras scheduled for installation within the next three months.

These cameras will be linked to a centralised control room in Thevara, which will receive live footage. This initiative marks the second phase of a larger project by Thalassery-based Southern Electronics and Security Systems, which has committed to installing 300 CCTV cameras in total — 150 for the Kochi Corporation to monitor and penalise illegal waste dumping, and 150 for the Kochi City police to oversee crime.

The company has already installed 120 of the 150 cameras for the Corporation, deploying a minimum of two cameras per each of the 74 divisions. “Cameras are being placed at identified waste dumping hot spots and connected to a centralised control room located at the Corporation’s Yatri Nivas. In return, the company will generate revenue through advertising on Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) poles,” explained T.K. Asharaf, chairperson of the health standing committee. The project is set to be inaugurated soon.

Pradeep Kumar, managing director of Southern Electronics and Security Systems, stated that the company will maintain the cameras and operate the control room for seven years under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model. “The remaining 30 cameras will be installed shortly. The control room, already established, is equipped with six 55-inch monitors and staffed by two operators working in three shifts,” he added.

Actions based on CCTV footage have already commenced. In cases involving vehicles, the Motor Vehicles Department is contacted to obtain owner details, which are then forwarded to health inspectors and relevant councillors.

The company will be permitted to advertise on 600 CSML poles; however, Mr Asharaf cited a figure of 400 poles, with advertising on the first 200 poles authorised once 150 cameras for the Corporation are installed, and the remainder upon completing the police cameras.

Senior Congress councillor Antony Kureethara expressed concerns over the number of advertising poles, referring to the High Court’s directive against the defacement of public spaces. He also criticised the plan to install just two cameras per division, arguing that waste dumping hot spots have increased. He suggested that the Corporation should have implemented the project directly for better coverage and that decentralised monitoring across the seven Corporation zones would be more efficient than a single centralised control room.