crime and regulating traffic movement, the West Bengal police will set up 100 watchtowers fitted with cameras on national highways across the state.

Director general of police (DGP) Surajit Kar Purkayastha on Friday said that several measures had been taken, particularly the introduction of sophisticated cameras and gadgets to upgrade vigil.

Mr Kar Purkayastha said that following the introduction of the ‘Safe Life Save Life’ campaign in 2017, the number of deaths in road accidents had gone down in the state.

The DGP inaugurated an integrated control room having state-of-the-art technology at the Siliguri Police Station on Friday.

The control room will monitor the movement of vesicles with CCTV cameras installed at all major locations round the clock. “We have introduced such integrated cameras in other places in the state like Howrah and Bidhannagar police commissionerates and such system has been started in Siliguri. It will help manage traffic, enforce traffic rules and detect crime. CCTV camera is an important part of policing. Police are setting up camera- fitted watchtowers on national highways of the state. Around 30 such watch towers have been set up and our plan is to set up 100 more. Speed radar guns are also being used,” he said.

A total of 105 CCTV cameras have been installed at 31 locations under the jurisdiction of the Siliguri Metropolitan Police, while such cameras will be installed at 22 more locations.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have also been installed at some important locations. Senior police officers have said such cameras have helped police detect crime.

“The cameras would be useful for overall surveillance, traffic regulation and crime detection and through this, an integrated system has been introduced. Ten ANPR cameras have been installed,” Mr Kar Purkayastha said.

West Bengal Police Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation is funding the cameras for the project. The police chief, meanwhile, said the ‘Safe Life Save Life’ campaign has helped lessen death rate in road accidents.

He said around 1000 deaths on an average had come down from the earlier 9,000. “It is an important development and it was made possible with the coordinated efforts with all the departments like transport and PWD, the civic bodies and the common people,” he said.

A police officer of the rank of the assistant commissioner of police will be in-charge of the control room with other police personnel, including an inspector-in-charge, officer- in-charge, assistant subinspectors and constables. The DGP later held a meeting with police officers at the police station.