5302 cameras to monitor holy sites

Authorities have installed 5,302 surveillance cameras at the holy sites for this year’s Haj.

The cameras are placed at strategic locations at the Grand Mosque, the Jamrat bridge, the holy sites, and the tunnels to ensure the safety and comfort of the millions of Muslims who converge on Makkah to perform the annual pilgrimage, according to Abdullah Al-Zahrani, commander of the command and control center for Haj security.
He said of the new installations: “The center features a network of screens linked to thousands of surveillance cameras across the holy sites. Additionally, sensors count the flow of pilgrims moving through the holy sites to perform Haj rituals.”
Al-Zahrani said that the command and control center is designed to provide a database of accurate statistics and maps, along with any information related to the operations of the Haj security force's leaders and branches, noting that the center is also aimed at facilitating decision-making, especially in the case of traffic accidents and congestion.
Al-Zahrani stressed that there were also improved crowd-control measures, and an unprecedented crackdown on pilgrims without the required permits.
As part of the Kingdom's efforts to strengthen Haj security, there is a specialized team including members of the Civil Defense, Makkah governorate, Meteorology authority, Ministries of Transport and Finance and other authorities to monitor weather conditions around the clock, and to predict climatic changes and fluctuations that may affect pilgrims. In cases of adverse whether, this team stands ready to put into action the appropriate contingency plans to ensure the safety of all pilgrims and visitors.
Moreover, Al-Zahrani said the center coordinates with the relevant public and private sectors to carry out combined operations. It identifies the roles of officers in leadership positions to carry out joint missions and to avoid any overlapping of roles during emergency scenarios.
The center also has high-tech equipment to ensure the security of incoming and outgoing information, the official said, noting that these security systems will help unify the database and can analyze data quickly and effectively to help the center respond to accidents effectively.
He also confirmed that the center’s network is local and is completely isolated from the Internet and protected with a firewall, making it difficult to reach for the purposes of tampering or sabotage.

Source: Arab News