Leopard search puts CSMC on alert mode

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Four days after a leopard was spotted in the city, the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell has gone on alert mode. They are reviewing CCTV footage installed under the Smart City Mission to locate the leopard. The Command and Control Centre (CCC) staff have been alerted regarding tracing the big cat.

CCTV footage showing the leopard moving in various parts of the city goes viral on social media. All this footage comes from private CCTV cameras. There are 750 CCTV cameras installed in different corners of the city under the Smart City initiative. The Department of Forest (DoF) has neither requested this footage from Smart City or the police nor has the municipal corporation taken any initiative to do so.

The head of the disaster management cell, Swapnil Sardar, said,“ A team has been assigned to review footage from Smart City cameras in areas where the leopard has been spotted over the past four days. We are also cooperating with the DoF team.”

Meanwhile, digital displays have been installed at 40 major intersections in the city. Instructions that citizens should take precautions if a leopard appears on the road are displayed on these displays, said the deputy municipal commissioner Ravindra Jagtap.