5,000 police cameras to be up in Delhi by May 31

The Safe City Project, which aims to create a safe, secure and empowering environment for women in public places, was announced in 2020. The implementation of the project in the Capital will cost ₹600 crore, authorities said

Delhi Police will install at least 5,000 CCTV cameras in six districts of the national capital by May 31 as part of the first phase of the Safe City Project, which was approved by the ministry of home affairs in collaboration with ministry of women and child development in January, authorities in the know of the matter said.

TOPSHOT - A Delhi police barrier blocks a street during a Delhi state-wide weekend curfew imposed by the authorities to curb the spreading of the Covid-19 coronavirus in New Delhi on January 8, 2022. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP) (AFP)

Delhi Police will also put in place a robust surveillance system with real-time video analytics, a quick emergency response system, and dedicated emergency vehicles to assist women in distress by July 15, officials working on the project said. The Safe City Project, which aims to create a safe, secure and empowering environment for women in public places, was announced in 2020. The implementation of the project in the Capital will cost ₹600 crore, they added.

“The process of setting up the command and control centres with facilities for video analytics, artificial intelligence and facial recognition system has already begun. These centres will be located in police headquarters, district headquarters and several police stations. Various safety schemes of Delhi Police will also be integrated with the Safe City Project by May this year,” a Delhi Police officer said asking not to be named.

To be sure, the Delhi government has installed more than 275,000 cameras across the city, and plans to add at least 100,000 more. Besides, there are at least 10,000 police cameras in the city. The number of traffic cameras and those installed by RWAs was not immediately available.

The officer said the cameras to be installed under the Safe City project will be better than the ones already in place in the city. “Compared to the existing CCTV cameras, the ones to be installed under the Safe City project will be more advanced and provide better and accurate footage,” the officer said, asking not to be named.

He added that while two mobile command and control vehicles will keep a close watch on all vehicular and pedestrian movement across the national capital, 88 vans – equipped with communication devices, body cameras, vehicle-mounted cameras and GPS -- will patrol roads round the clock. “We’ll also hold meetings with municipal and administrative agencies to ensure collaborative monitoring by integrating CCTV camera projects of other departments. To avoid duplication, we’ll do GIS mapping of CCTV cameras under Safe City Project as well as other schemes of Delhi Police before installing new cameras,” he said.

A second officer said that a total of 10,000 new CCTV cameras will be installed in Delhi under three phases of the Safe City project.

While the first phase, which began in January will be completed by May 31, the second and third phases will be completed by July.

Deputy commissioner of police (communications) SK Gautam, said that the total cost of implementation of the Safe City Project in Delhi is ₹600 crore, which includes the installation of 10,000 CCTV cameras and linking them with the main server. “The (Pune-based) C-DAC has appointed two agencies, RailTel and NEC, for this purpose. While RailTel will install the CCTV cameras, NEC will connect them to different feeders and main servers,” he said.