Jawale Ghanashyam
Head – India Operation – Arohi
The Scale of Vision
Mumbai is now monitored by a sophisticated network of over 11,000 cameras covering major intersections, Mumbai entry points, vital installations, tourist/ iconic landmarks, important religious places, highly sensitive religious festivals and political gatherings and many more. This system, the Arohi Video Management System (VMS), serves as the technological foundation for one of India’s most ambitious urban safety initiatives.
Challenges and issues
User was facing multiple critical challenges – like DC-DR failover, auto switching was taking more than 10 to 15 mins to get system switchover from DC to DR, and hence forth, data sync was not happening after switching. After N+1 functionality and data sync was not happening. VMS client live operations were getting hampered during this operation. Phase 1 was working on H.264 compression, phase 2 needed to be on H.265. Camera’s firmware was different and to get Phase 1 and Phase 2 cameras on single client Servers; client machines upgrade was suggested by old OEM. As network and networking equipment were getting old so multicast was an issue. Bandwidth requirement was getting out of control. As some of the system were old and some were getting updated integration was an issue.
Vital Solutions provided by Arohi – with fully scalable system thinking about future.
Zero-downtime failover
In traditional VMS environments, a system crash usually triggers a frantic 15-minute scramble to restore services. Arohi has eliminated this window entirely. Through an intelligent auto-switching architecture, the transition from Data Centre (DC) to Disaster Recovery (DR) – and back again – is instantaneous. It’s the ‘seamless’ promise that vendors often make but rarely deliver; here, it’s an operational reality where neither the user nor the network admin feels the shift.
Continuity without compromise
Redundancy is useless if data is lost in the handoff. Where legacy systems suffer from ‘data amnesia’ during failover, Arohi maintains persistent, real-time synchronization. The N+1 architecture finally functions as intended – a reliable, redundant lifecycle that preserves data integrity from the first byte to the last, regardless of hardware status.
Codec agility
Arohi’s unified interface handles both H.264 and H.265 streams simultaneously. This allows organizations to modernize their camera fleets incrementally deploying high-efficiency H.265 hardware where it’s most critical while protecting the RoI of existing H.264 assets – with no upgradation in VMS server, no upgradation in VMS client, no upgradation in GPU, No forced Hardware migrations.
Intelligent network adaptation
Bandwidth is a finite resource, and Arohi treats it with respect. The streaming server dynamically selects between multicast or unicast based on live network conditions. By reading the environment in real-time, the system ensures optimal stream quality without choking the infrastructure, adapting on the fly to prevent bottlenecks.
Hardware-aware optimization
Arohi rejects the ‘dumb terminal’ philosophy. Instead, the software actively audits the client machine’s configuration – leveraging GPU acceleration irrespective of its version or age and local computational resources – to maximize performance. It is software that respects, and amplifies, your hardware investment.
Infinite scalability
Growth shouldn’t come with a performance penalty. Built on a modular foundation, Arohi scales horizontally as your operational needs expand. Whether you are adding ten cameras or ten thousand, or integrating new geographic sites, the platform maintains peak performance without requiring a fundamental redesign.
Seamless ecosystem integration
Arohi doesn’t just sit on the network – it talks to it. Native, two-way integration with critical systems – such as Dial 100, Face Recognition (FR) apps, and custom security platforms – eliminates the brittle APIs and ‘middleware hacks’ that plague legacy setups. Arohi speaks the native language of the modern security ecosystem.
SOP liberation: Returning agility to the operator
Perhaps the most transformative shift is the democratization of control. ICCC administrators are no longer tethered to vendor support for protocol changes. Arohi grants the freedom to create, modify, and deploy Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for any incident type in minutes. What once required a support ticket is now a simple administrative task, returning true agility to the people behind the consoles.
Arohi delivers autonomous resilience. The modern standard is zero-disruption failover, intelligent resource utilization, and administrative sovereignty over security
The Technology Revolution
What separates modern surveillance is its intelligence. Mumbai’s system isn’t merely recording – it’s thinking. It actively analyses them in real-time
Live feeds and all relevant details shared between Commissioner Office, Mumbai Police, Regional Viewing stations and State Disaster Management centres etc. – are breaking silos that previously hampered emergency response. Arohi VMS features Automatic Bandwidth Adaptation Technology. The system continuously monitors available network capacity and automatically adjusts the live preview streams. This ensures a smooth, jitter-free display even in environments with low or fluctuating bandwidth, The architecture leverages multi-streaming capabilities to deliver video efficiently based on the user’s needs.
Look, the RoI is undeniable – automated violation detection alone cuts operational costs by 40%, but what we’re really selling here is psychological safety. When citizens see those blue indicator lights blinking, they know someone’s got their back. By building a network that is visible, responsive, and eternally awake,
A significant factor in the project’s success is Arohi’s local presence. Being headquartered within the city provides unique strategic benefits. Arohi possesses a deep understanding of Mumbai’s unique urban topography and proximity ensures rapid, on-site assistance and maintenance, minimizing any possible system downtime and ensuring the ‘Unblinking Eye’ stays operational 24/7
The Arohi VMS is not a finished product; it is a platform for continuous improvement. As analytical capabilities mature and camera coverage expands, the system’s capacity to anticipate and prevent incidents will deepen. Mumbai is not simply monitoring its streets – it is actively shaping the future of urban security in India.
Mumbai is redefining what it means to be a modern ‘Smart City.’ Through the power of the Arohi VMS, India’s financial capital is ensuring that its growth is matched by its security.
