1,200 more CCTVs bolster surveillance cover in Mumbai: CM

To beef up surveillance in crucial places of Mumbai, the Maharashtra government has installed 1,200 CCTV cameras in the city which will be operational from tomorrow, Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis said today.
Fadanvis at a function here said that about 1,200 CCTV cameras were installed in the South zone of the city in the last eight months while remaining parts of the metropolis will be covered by October, 2016.
The cameras installed in the first phase will be operational from tomorrow. It will bring a qualitative change in policing in Mumbai, he said.
The Chief Minister today inaugurated the Distress Call Response Management System (DCRMS) at the Nagpur City police control room here.

Fadnavis said Nagpur will also be equipped with CCTV cameras soon and asked state Energy Minister and district guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule to expedite the process.
With the launching of DCRMS, Fadanvis said there will be certainly a quality change in the day-to-day policing.

He said the new technology will help police trace criminals promptly. It will also help reduce call drops as the telephone lines have gone up from 10 to 20.
He said he was working to restore the state's past
glory in industrial development.
When asked about the Maratha morchas being taken out across the state, Fadnavis said his government was positively working on solutions to address the grievances of the community.

He denied that there was any caste tension in the state saying OBC, Dalit and Muslim morchas have been organised in different parts of Maharashtra.
"No one is speaking against each other at the rallies. Even political leaders need to exercise caution,"he said.
Fadnavis ruled out scrapping the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. "We are taking a review of where the Act has been misused and the government stand regarding demand to amend the act to stop the misuse will be finalised later," he said.
To a question on why he has not heeded to Opposition's demand for loan waiver to farmers, Fadnavis said loan waiver was a good option, but it was not the only one.

"We are working to improve investment in agriculture. Farmers should be made credit worthy. It is not a matter of money, but principles. Loan waiver in 2008 helped the banks and not the farmers. If we use our resources well, then farmers will be benefited," he added.
The Chief Minister said in 2008 (during the Congress-NCP rule), the loan waiver was worth Rs 7,000 crore, but his government had provided Rs 10,000 crore to farmers.