Visakhapatnam: Hawk-eyed vigil at Beach Road makes it a much safer zone

Visakhapatnam: Not just for the locals but those who arrive from various destinations to Vizag find Beach Road a place to relax and unwind. Given the crowd thronging the most frequented part of the City of Destiny, the city police have intensified their surveillance at the stretch incorporating multiple interventions.

From streamlining the traffic to alerting the tourists who venture into the sea and deploying extra force for an enhanced surveillance and establishing a control room, the initiative taken by the city Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha is receiving an encouraging response from various quarters.

The extra force, including law and order, traffic, armed reserve (AR), marine police and community guards, deployed for increased surveillance is divided into four teams to keep a close tab on the entire stretch – from Fishing Harbour to ITSEZ.

During weekends and holidays, the teams will keep extra vigil along the area. With this, incidents of eve-teasing, traffic bottlenecks and parking issues have seen a decline.

A couple of days back, a control room 'We are here for you' was set up to provide 24/7 security at Beach Road. Initiated by the CP, the control room is monitored by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ch Adinarayana. For visibility purpose, sky balloons with captions 'You are under watch', 'We are here for you' and 'Dial 100' were tied at the place. Recently, the control room team had rescued four children who went missing at RK Beach.

With the help of binoculars, dragon lights and man-packs, rooftop surveillance in 19 places is being carried out along the stretch by the first team, comprising AR police.

Similarly, the second team consisting of SHE team, personnel from law and order and AR will make their presence felt at 30 locations.

Using segways, the traffic police, who form a part of the third team, will be available at 36 spots to help streamline the traffic and overcome parking challenges.

The last team, including marine police and community guards, will keep a tab on those venturing into the sea. Alerts will be given to the tourists at vulnerable spots. Access to life jackets and inflated rubber tubes and ropes are made available for the rescue operation in times of any emergency.

For the tourists and the locals, the 24/7 monitoring system along the beach comes as a big relief as they find the place much safer to frequent.