Hyderabad:
The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday night enacted a law that makes it mandatory to put in place certain public safety measures in all establishments in view of the recurring incidents of terrorist violence.
The State Assembly discussed the enabling bill, introduced on June 14, during the evening session and eventually passed it even as the main Opposition TDP staged a walk out as part of its "boycott" of the "tainted ministers".
The 'AP Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2013' makes it mandatory for all "establishments", where a gathering of 100 or more people is expected at a time, to provide access controls and install closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras.
Initially, the legislation will cover 18 municipal corporations, including Greater Hyderabad, Greater
Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, according to Major Industries Minister J Geeta, who has been delegated the Home Department affairs in the House on behalf of the Chief Minister.
"The government felt there is an urgent need to introduce certain public safety measures in all establishments in view of the recurring incidents of terrorist violence affecting public safety and security.
As public safety is the prime concern of the state, it has been decided to make it mandatory on part of the managements of establishments to provide for access controls and closed-circuit television surveillance cameras at all entry-exit points and parking areas," Ms Geeta said, explaining the objectives the legislation.
As per the legislation, managements of commercial and industrial establishments will be required to mount electronic surveillance on their respective premises with a provision to store the video footage for 30 days.
Managements of these establishments will be required to file "periodical returns" to the appointed authority once in six months certifying that the prescribed public safety measures are in place and the electronic surveillance equipment is in working condition.
Failure to comply with provisions of the legislation will lead to imposition of a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first month and Rs 10,000 for the second month.
The premises will be temporarily sealed in case an establishment management does not implement the public safety measures even after the compounding fee was levied.
The minister said the state government, on its part, would be installing 5,000 CCTV cameras at all public places and junctions for surveillance.
Meanwhile, the House also passed six other Bills, including the AP Education (Amendment) Act, 2012 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological Universities (Amendment) Act, 2012, both of which were pending since August last.