PCMC hospital to get CCTV cameras

PUNE: Six civic hospitals, besides water treatment plants and the main office building of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will get CCTV cameras. A total of 161 cameras are being installed at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore.
While additional cameras will come up at Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH), cameras will be installed at five other hospitals in Akurdi, Pimpri and Bhosari to improve security and prevent untoward incidents.
Two incidents which occurred in the hospitals in the past have highlighted the importance of CCTVs. In November 2012, a newborn baby was stolen from YCMH, but CCTV cameras installed in the hospital helped solve the case and the baby was found. In another case, a mentally challenged woman was raped at the civic-run Bhosari hospital in September 2013, and the cameras helped the authorities investigate the case.
Joint city engineer Pravin Tupe said the cameras would improve security around women's wards in hospitals. Installing them at water treatment plants is also important, he said. "There is a provision to monitor all the CCTV cameras installed at the six hospitals and water treatment plants at the main office building. The work of installing the cameras will be completed in three months," Tupe said.
Thomas Naronha, wireless in-charge, PCMC said, "The high court in 2009 had made it mandatory for the civic bodies to install CCTV cameras in hospitals for improving security. After the incidents in the hospitals, a high-level meeting of officials of the civic health and security department was held last year wherein directives were given to the security department for drawing up a plan about installation of CCTV cameras on civic properties."
The contractors appointed for the work will have to maintain the services for a period of three years, he said.