Brahma, Sannihit sarovar security to be privatised, more cameras on the anvil

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Kurukshetra, May 26

To enhance the safety and security of tourists and visitors at Brahma Sarovar and Sannihit Sarovar, Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) has decided to engage a security agency and install more surveillance cameras for better monitoring.

Lakhs of tourists visit Kurukshetra from across the country throughout the year, and these numbers swell around Amavasya, other religious events and International Gita Mahotsav.

Though, a Tourist Help Desk was established by the Kurukshetra Police at Brahma Sarovar in 2015 where 16 policemen perform duties in two shifts, the board officials feel there is a need to strengthen the security arrangement further in view of the rise in tourism.

Tender to be floated soon

Safety and security of the tourists and the shrines are important to the board. We already have special tourist police at Brahma Sarovar and to enhance security, it has been decided that in addition to these cops, the board should engage a private security agency. The board will float a tender to hire the agency soon. —Upender Singhal, KDB honourary secretary

In the past, there have been incidents of theft, grills being taken away, misbehvaiour with tourists and fishing nets being recovered from the holy pond, despite fishing being completely prohibited there. There have been incidents of people committing suicides and drowning, too. Installation of permanent cameras at Brahma and Sannihit ponds was long pending. Lakhs of rupees are spent on installing temporary cameras during International Gita Mahotsav every year as the previously installed cameras are insufficient.

The existing CCTV cameras at scattered locations don’t cover the entire area. A few years ago a project to get a security system was prepared. It was proposed to have artificial intelligence-enabled 118 CCTV cameras installed at a cost of around Rs 8 crore to cover 400 acres under the Centre Government’s Swadesh Darshan scheme, but the project failed to take off.

Speaking to The Tribune, KDB honourary secretary Upender Singhal said, “Safety and security of the tourists and the shrines are important to the board. We already have special tourist police at Brahma Sarovar and to enhance the safety and security, it has been decided that in addition to these cops, the board should engage a private security agency. The board will float a tender to hire the agency soon.”

“Besides this, to enhance the monitoring of the Brahma and Sannihit ponds, new CCTV cameras will be installed for which we will soon request the PWD (B&R) department to prepare a report and then the tenders will be floated. Installation of permanent cameras will also help the board in reducing the requirement of temporary cameras during the International Gita Mahotsav. A monitoring room will be established at Brahma Sarovar,” he added.

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