Phurpa Lhamo | Wangdue

Bajo town residents were happy with the new 30 closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) installed on June 12.

The CCTVs cover almost every corner of the town.

Residents are hoping the cameras would deter littering and incidents of crime would drop.

Wangdue dzongdag Sonam Jamtsho said that vandalism, damage on public property, and theft of the flowers planted by the dzongkhag beautification team were common.

“We hope that with the CCTVs, vandalism, damage on public property and crime rates would be reduced. We want to make Bajo town a safer place for everyone,” he said.

The CCTVs use optimised motorised zoom lens cameras according to the contractor Tshering Dorji, whose firm installed the cameras.

He said that of 30 cameras, two were pan-tilt and zoom (PTZ) cameras, which could capture 360-degree images of its surrounding.

The cameras are also attached with backup batteries, which can keep the cameras functional for an hour without electricity. “And the recording capacity is for one month. Only after a month, the recordings would be removed from the system,” Tshering Dorji said.

Installed with a budget of around Nu 4.6 million, the cameras also have night vision features.

Wangdue Thrizin Tenzin Wangchuk said that the project was funded with taxes collected from the town residents.

Several police personnel and dzongkhag information and communications technology (ICT) officials were also trained in the usage of the features of the CCTVs on June 12.

While the installation work is complete and the cameras are functional, the dzongkhag is yet to handover the cameras to Wangdue police. The police will appoint police personnel to monitor the CCTVs.

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