GURUGRAM: Work for laying an optical fibre network for broadband connectivity across Gurugram has been allotted to four companies, including Reliance Jio, as part of a ‘smart city’ project, which was launched by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday.

The other three companies roped in by GMDA are Indus Towers Limited, Sterlite Convergence Limited and ATC Telecom & Infrastructure Private Limited.

Under the project, optical fibres, the backbone for all smart city initiatives, will be laid out in 115 sectors covering a total of 600km-long stretches in Gurugram and Manesar. According to GMDA officials, the project seeks to connect 356 major intersections/crime sensitive areas, entry/exit points, including underpasses that have already been identified, through a detailed field survey, for public safety equipment deployment.

Elaborating further, GMDA officials said the optical fibres would be used for CCTV surveillance, traffic management, streetlights, Wi-Fi connectivity, etc. Further, it would help create a robust network infrastructure providing connectivity to parking lots, shopping malls, markets, residential colonies, educational institutions, government hospitals and offices, police stations, bus stands, railway stations and tourist locations.

GMDA CEO V Umashankar said the optical fibres would connect all CCTV cameras to be installed across the city. “An integrated command and control centre will be set up for centralised monitoring of all such surveillance cameras,” he said.

Sources said a trial CCTV project was already functional in parts of old Gurugram for keeping tabs on traffic rule violations. Under the initiative, an automated intelligence technology, traffic violators would be sent challans based on the details captured by the CCTV cameras installed on the roads. “The planned public safety and adaptive traffic management system will play a vital role in preventing crime and illegal or suspicious activities, and monitoring traffic,” said another GMDA official.

According to the officials, the GMDA had sought expression of interest from interested bidders in February and the project will be completed in a time-bound manner between nine months and a year.

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