‘Eyes’ monitor poll process in real time

When Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy entered the Uttara Kannada district for poll campaigning recently, all the vehicles in his convoy, including the one he was travelling in, were checked, which made headlines. All vehicles that cross district or taluk borders in Uttara Kannada are checked.

It was early morning when this reporter entered the Gorate check-post on National Highway 66 in Bhatkal taluk under the Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency. The personnel at the check-post, which has been set up by the Election Commission, politely requested the passengers to cooperate and checked the vehicles.

Real-time monitoring

If a vehicle is allowed to go without a check, the check-post personnel get a call from the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Karwar, a 2.5-hour journey from the check-post. Vehicles of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district are not exempt from the inspection.

In the same way, a slight deviation from the model code of conduct in the processions organised by political parties in major urban centres will attract the attention of the administration. All activities — be it at check-posts or at urban centres — are being monitored real time from Karwar.

It is a known fact that Election Commission gets complaints on various issues during the poll process. These include the distribution of cash, liquor and other gifts to voters during the elections, or complaints against politicians’ utterances during the campaign. Monitoring of these activities is a key challenge for the administrative set-up in election machinery.

The CCTV cameras at Gorate and 29 other check-posts in the district, and another 206 CCTV cameras in 12 urban centres of the district are directly beaming the activities in these locations to the control room at DC’s office in Karwar.

CCTV network

Harish Kumar, District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada, told BusinessLine that Uttara Kannada district has 12,000 sq km of the area, and nearly 75 per cent of the district is under forest cover. The Western Ghat separates the coastal belt of Karwar to Bhatkal from the Malnad centres such as Sirsi, Siddapur and Yallapur.

Karwar, the district headquarters, is around 2.5-3 hours of journey from major urban centres such as Sirsi and Bhatkal, and a majority of border areas also.

Though 30 video cameras were set up at different check-posts in the district as per the directives of the Election Commission, the district administration decided to link the live feed of 206 CCTV cameras already existing in strategic locations in the limits of different urban local bodies with the above 30.

S Purushottam, nodal officer of the e-initiatives of the polls in Uttara Kannada district, told BusinessLine that the live camera feeds of 206 cameras in urban locations have helped in real-time monitoring of activities such as processions.

The three-member static surveillance team works in four shifts at 30 check-posts and a 25-member team at the control room monitors the activities at check-posts and urban centres round-the-clock in two shifts.

Trained personnel

The district administration conducted a three-day training to those involved in these activities before setting up this system. The personnel were trained to carry out their activities politely.

He said that key officials related to poll process, including DC and SP, have been given access to the live feeds on their mobile phones. The district administration has beefed up the broadband strength to meet the requirements of live feed streaming at the control room.

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