BATHINDA, Jan. 29 -- To strengthen surveillance and improve law-and-order monitoring, the Bathinda district administration has begun installing high-resolution automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and high-definition (HD) CCTV cameras at 30 key locations across the city. The Rs.83-lakh project is being rolled out under the district mineral fund under which 153 surveillance cameras are being installed, officials said on Wednesday. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jyoti Yadav said these cameras are equipped with advanced software and will be capable of recording high-quality footage even during the night. She clarified that the district police had no plan yet to utilise the infrastructure for penalising traffic rule offenders. "The primary focus of installing high-quality cameras is to maintain law and order. Unlike standard CCTV cameras, ANPR cameras can automatically capture registration numbers of all types of vehicles. The project would help us in monitoring the movement of vehicles," she added. An official source said that the live feed from the web of CCTV cameras will be monitored at a dedicated control room. A team will monitor the footage to analyse using dedicated software to retrieve the vehicle owner's details, including name, address, and contact data. Deputy commissioner Rajesh Dhiman said that a sum of Rs.83 lakh was sanctioned on the demand tabled by the SSP office. "Resources from the royalty generated from the mining will be utilised to strengthen the city's digital infrastructure. The city will have 45 ANPR cameras and another 108 HD cameras. We have a plan to introduce similar virtual infrastructure in Talwandi Sabo, which has been recently designated by the state government as the holy city," said the DC....