The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Kolkata Police in India are making sure the majority of the parking lots are brought under round-the-clock camera surveillance. There will be a dedicated control room at the KMC headquarters to monitor a few hundred parking lots managed by 45 agencies. The parking lots
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Kolkata Police in India are making sure the majority of the parking lots are brought under round-the-clock camera surveillance. There will be a dedicated control room at the KMC headquarters to monitor a few hundred parking lots managed by 45 agencies.
The parking lots are a constant cause for concern of the civic authority and the police. A section of car parking managers has been accused of being rogues. They often charge parking fee much higher than the rate fixed by the KMC. The parking lot personnel have been accused of assaulting drivers and even of snatching a chain from a woman's neck.
They are also accused of charging hefty parking fees at night. The surveillance footages would give KMC an opportunity to check whether these agencies are fudging the number of cars being parked on an average weekday. The agencies allegedly fudge the number of cars parked in a parking lot to pay the KMC much less royalty than what it should have been.
In the first phase, central Kolkata parking lots would be brought under surveillance. Subsequently all other parking lots would follow suit.
But more than anything, security is the factor that drove the KMC to take the decision of installing surveillance cameras in parking lots. Besides the registration numbers of vehicles, the motorists' faces would also be recorded on camera. The video feed of the parking lots can easily be shared with the Kolkata Police.