High-tech CCTV network worth Rs 120 crore to be installed for surveillance of Mumbai region mangroves

Mumbai: Environmentalists' dream to get CCTV camera surveillance for mangroves will soon come true with the Maharashtra Forest Department floating a tender for a Rs 120-crore high-tech CCTV network to cover the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

With 669 cameras and a centralised monitoring system, the video surveillance will cover 195 "sensitive" mangrove zones in five areas - Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Uran.

Mangrove Cell head S V Rama Rao said the “high priority” project envisaged not only to ensure safety and security of mangrove areas, but also to instil confidence among the citizens that the environment of the city is being protected and nurtured.

The network will have Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, integrated with the data of  VAAHAN Sarathi as well as databases of Passport, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Prisons, and Automated Multimodal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS).

The State Mangrove Cell under the Forest Department floated a request for proposal (RFP) on Wednesday. The submission of e-tenders will close on September 24.

The tenders will be opened on October 15. The surveillance network should be up and running in less than a year if everything goes as planned, a top official said.

NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar who has been actively campaigning for well over five years for saving the mangroves, for the installation of a CCTV surveillance, and for a centralised control room along with a rapid action force, expressed his happiness that the government has begun to act at last.

Mangroves and wetlands have been under attack by debris and land mafias, threatening the city’s environment, he pointed out.

However, the CCTV network will only cover the mangroves which are under the protection scheme of the forest department, Kumar said.

Vast stretches of the sea plants are still under government agencies such as CIDCO and JNPA, while the mangroves on lands allotted to Navi Mumbai Integrated Industrial Authority (erstwhile NMSEZ) are yet to be accounted for, NatConnect said. Mangrove destruction in these areas goes on unabated, he said.

Activist Jyoti Nadkarni said several mangrove zones in areas such as Kharghar needed to get the protective cover. Mangroves and wetlands which support biodiversity are constantly under attack and unfortunately CIDCO is yet to hand them over to the forest department in violation of the High Court order.

The proposed network with night vision cameras will track illegal movements by people and vehicles that can inflict damage to life and property of the mangrove areas and their livelihood.

The mangrove cell will also have a Central Control Room, Zonal Recording Station, Storage Backup Station and Zonal Viewing Centre.

The alarm management module will facilitate continuous monitoring of the operational status and event-triggered alarms from various system servers, cameras and other devices.