Ensuring women safety, Smart City ‘Bengaluru’ gets ‘Smart Eyes’ cameras

Bengaluru, April 2: Walking down the streets of Bengaluru, all alone and during non-rush hours, will no longer be as scary to women as it might be right now. The police will have their eyes on the streets, checking for mischief makers and safeguarding the city.

Authorities in the IT capital are utilising technology to be their eyes and ears. Under the “Suraksha Mitra” proposal, more than 4500 junctions and main roads in Bengaluru will get 10,000 CCTV cameras. These cameras, called ‘Smart Eyes’ will be AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered and will monitor situations round the clock.

Initially, the AI-powered cameras will begin observing and learning human behaviour, after which they will be able to categorise situations as odd or otherwise. According to the proposal by BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), the cameras will start off by learning how many people cross a particular street every day during a particular time. Eventually, if they detect a sudden and large-scale increase in the number of people at the same street at the same time. they will register this as an glitch, and report it.

In addition to arming 4,500 junctions and main roads with Smart Eyes, the proposal also has a few more guidelines to ensure women’s safety. Surveillance at public places, placement of NGO volunteers at police stations as well as critical care response units in major hospitals are some of their recommendations.

Funds for the massive project will be generated through the Nirbhaya Funds. Bengaluru has been allocated Rs 667 crores under the scheme and is also among the eight cities which have been shortlisted for the “safe city” plan.

The Bengaluru police, too have been utilising technology to ensure women’s safety. Their Suraksha App is your personal SOS button which will not only inform the police when you trigger it but also record and upload a 10 seconds video clip as evidence.