In a bid to counter the possible threat of a 26/11-like attack in Gujarat, the police now want to turn the sprawling New Sachivalaya campus in Gandhinagar into a digital fortress, literally.

As part of the security overhaul, the existing analog CCTV cameras on the campus are being replaced with the digital Pan Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) CCTV cameras. With the barbed wire fencing on the perimeter walls already complete, installation of several more state-of-the-art security equipment are in the pipeline and the police are awaiting a government nod in this regard.

The multi-crore New Sachivalaya security arrangement proposal submitted by the Gandhinagar district police to the state Home Department last month, proposes computerised Under Vehicle Inspection Systems (UVIS) and digitally controlled bollards to obstruct the entry of suspicious vehicles into the campus. The building houses the offices of all cabinet ministers including Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the state Legislative Assembly.

The ambitious project, which is being worked out with the Department of Science and Technology, further proposes to replace the prevailing photo identity card access system for visitors with a biometric access control gate entry.

Gandhinagar Police Superintendent Piyush Patel, who is supervising the project, said: “Biometric access control system will identify visitors with their fingerprints. This will completely rule out the possibility of a person using entry pass issued in someone else’s name to force his way in.”

About the proposed computerised UVIS systems, Patel said: “The system will be able to thoroughly scan all vehicles entering the campus within a few seconds. If anything suspicious is detected, the bollards at the entrance point will get activated and obstruct that vehicle, and the alarms will simultaneously alert the security personnel.”

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