Pramesh S Jain & Yogesh K Porwar
The Bangalore Safe City project, as it is called, will involve installation and operation of thousands of cameras across the city, and building a state-of-the-art command centre for the city’s Police.
American multinational Honeywell has bagged a Rs 496 crore contract from the Bengaluru City Police to implement a project that aims to make India’s tech capital a safer place for women.
The union government has selected Honeywell Automation India to lead Rs 496.57 crore Bengaluru Safe City project proposed under the Nirbhaya Fund.
The project was initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs,to create a safe,secure and empowering environment for women and girls in public places to enable them to pursue all opportunities without the threat of gender-based violence or harassment.
Bengaluru is among eight cities selected for the government’s Safe City project,which involves identification of hot spots for crimes against women and deployment of various components, including infrastructure,technology adoption, and capacity building in the community through awareness programmes.
As per the engagement,Honeywell will create an integrated Command and Control Center to manage a state-of-the-art video system that features more than 7,000 video cameras deployed at more than 3,000 locations across the city.
The video system will provide advanced video analytics, including facial recognition, a “Dial 100” application and drones.
Honeywell would also upgrade the city police department’s existing Suraksha app to help improve incident response rate and citizen engagement.
Ashish Gaikwad, president, Honeywell India and managing director, Honeywell Automation India said, “We are honored to be selected for the Bengaluru Safe City project that works to directly address a key concern to improve the safety of all its citizens, especially women and girls.
As part of the contract, Honeywell Automation India,a publicly traded subsidiary of Honeywell in India, will install 7,000 cameras across 3,000 locations across Bengaluru.
The system will have facial recognition and advanced analytics capabilities, which it will operate and maintain for five years.
Globally,Honeywell helps develop future-ready cities with its wide portfolio of smart and safe city offerings, including a focus on connected safety and security technology.
We want to now deliver this for Bengaluru city, with the goal of turning it into the city that’s safer and more resilient,” said Ashish Modi, president, Honeywell Building Technologies, Asia.
Honeywell won the bid, which has been called off three times in the past, by quoting Rs 120 crore lower than the estimated cost of the project, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant told reporters.
Pant added that he was happy they have been able to issue the letter of intent to Honeywell after a transparent and successful tender process.
The tender process actually began in 2017, but had to be called off three times. The successful bidder is the best going by its past performance and lowest bid-wise. The company won the bid by quoting Rs 120 crore lower than the estimated cost of the project. This is a significant saving for us, and we will use it for stepping up the safety and security of women,” Pant said.
The project, which will be managed by the Bengaluru City Police, will be controlled by an integrated command and control centre, with Honeywell also building a ‘Dial 100’ app and utilising drones. The police department’s Suraksha app will also be upgraded as part of the project.
Bengaluru is estimated to be home to around 2 million IT and BPO workers, a significant portion of whom are women.
Law and order, including checking crime against women,is a State subject under the Constitution, the then junior union home minister G Kishan Reddy had informed the Rajya Sabha in March this year.
To help states implement measures towards the safety of women, the Centre is supporting Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai, he added.
These projects involve identification of hot spots for crimes against women and deployment of various components including infrastructure, technology adoption, and capacity building in the community through awareness programmes.
Safe city project guidelines also allow the states to merge the project with other ongoing projects, including Smart City Project.
“This project has been identified after due care and diligence. Several innovative aspects have been built in.
The procurement process had been a long-drawn one because it involved several parameters including specifications, proof of concept, quality check of material,” Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)told media persons.
“We are happy the project is taking off and it will enhance the safety of women,” he added. Gupta is a member of the Chief Secretary-led apex committee that periodically monitors the project implementation.
Honeywell’s smart city systems,in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,and Maharashtra,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat,already connect more than 100,000 sensors and touch the lives of more than 100 million people, as per the company.
