The Kurseong municipality has started installing CCTV cameras in the hill town in association with the power department of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to intensify the surveillance system in the civic area.

“We are installing 55 CCTV cameras in prominent locations of the Kurseong town so that surveillance can be intensified. A sum of Rs 25 lakh will be spent on the project,” said Brigen Gurung, the chairman of the board of administrators at the civic body.

The new surveillance system was inaugurated at the motor stand in the hill town on Wednesday. Representatives of the civic body, along with Pranam Rasaily, the executive member of the GTA power department, and officers of Kurseong subdivisional police, were present.

The newly-developed system will be monitored from a control room of the Kurseong police’s traffic wing, said sources.

According to a source in the civic body, this is the first time that such an initiative has been taken in Kurseong which is around 50km from there. Kurseong, which is also the hometown of GTA chief executive Anit Thapa, is surrounded by famous tea estates.

Also known to be an education hub, Kurseong has gradually emerged as one of the newest tourist destinations in the Darjeeling hills.

“We have already installed six high-mast lights to illuminate some important areas of the town to prevent burglaries and other anti-social activities. The CCTVs will be gradually installed in different locations of the town,” said Gurung.

According to sources in the administration, around 50,000 people live in 20 wards of Kurseong.

“It is always not possible to cover the entire town physically through mobile patrolling. But the introduction of electronic surveillance can considerably help us keep a watch on the entire town,” said a police officer in the town.