Face recognition cameras to curb crimes at Courtallam falls

MADURAI: Tenkasi police have geared up to install high profile face recognition cameras, which could enable the police to identify suspicious people at entry points in Courtallam, to prevent crime at the tourist destination.

Courtallam, which’s blessed with abundant nature with magnificent waterfalls, a place for tourists to enjoy, can be free of suspicious elements with criminal antecedents with the move.

The facility in association with Courtallam Town Panchayat will come up within two weeks, said Tenkasi Superintendent of Police R Krishnaraj on Sunday. With the aid of such cameras, the police would keep a tab on any anti-social elements to ensure pleasant experience to tourists.

There’s high turnout of tourists in Courtallam, Tenkasi district, especially on weekends and theft, is the most common crime against tourists forcing them to be always on guard. On average, around 50,000 tourists flock to Courtallam on weekends, the SP told DT Next.

On Saturday, four women were arrested for stealing a gold chain weighing about 28 grams from a woman while taking bath in the waterfalls. Those held mingled closely with the victim bathing under the waterfalls and stealthily cut the chain from around her neck.

Citing these, the SP has advised the tourists or bathers to make use of the locker facility arranged by the Courtallam Town Panchayat to ensure that their valuables are safe. The panchayat authorities have been asked to enhance the locker facility as the turnout could be much more during the peak days of Courtallam season, which may go on until August end or September.

Police outposts have been made functional under the limits of all five waterfalls and cautionary announcements for tourists were also being made through public address systems.

Nearly 240 police personnel are monitoring tourism hotspots in three shifts and six crime prevention teams from Madurai have also been deputed in Courtallam and ahead of ‘Saaral’ Thiruvizha probably in the next week.

More CCTV surveillance cameras would be installed at key locations. Except for ‘Tiger Falls,’ where light facilities for bathers at night and surveillance cameras are not fully made operational, four other waterfalls in Courtallam are open to tourists round the clock. To control the flow of traffic, some roads have been made one-way traffic, Krishnaraj said.