Post sunset, smart eye suffers ‘vision loss’ in UP capital!
Lack of monitoring during night due to staff crunch, limitations of AI tech hamper working of 1630 CCTV cameras installed under ITMS across Lucknow
Smart eye that is supposed to keep tabs on suspicious-looking persons and activities across the state capital seemingly becomes blurred after the sunset as there is hardly any physical monitoring of around 1630 high-tech CCTV cameras installed across the city at a cost of around ₹200 crore during night hours.
This fact came to light during an HT investigation at the Smart City office on Saturday evening, raising serious concerns about the city’s security infrastructure in the Safe city. At the office, there were only two employees who had also packed their bags and were preparing to leave.
One of the employees, who refused to reveal his name, said, “We arrive by 10 am and leave between 7 to 8 pm. After that, no officials remain here to monitor the Safe City office.” The absence of officials raises concerns about the lack of real-time monitoring and prompt response in case of any incident.
As per an official at the office, the private company associated with the Smart city project has around 50 employees who are working from 10 am to 8 pm. The official said for round-the-clock monitoring, the size of the employees should be double the figure to so that proper team could watch the CCTV the entire day in different shifts.
In the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) office, also located within the Smart City premises, four to five police officials monitored the CCTV cameras in different shifts alongside a few private company employees working as computer operators.
A police official revealed that traffic police monitor the ITMS office 24X7 in three eight-hour shifts. “The private operators leave after 10 pm and we manage the ITMS wing alone until morning,” he added.
“Among the 569 cameras installed under the ITMS include 190 fixed cameras, 48 pan tilt zoom at 53 locations, 331 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at around 155 intersections of the city. The budget for ITMS is around ₹109.53 crore,” said AK Singh, general manager, Smart City office.
Additionally, Singh said the city’s surveillance system under Safe City includes around 1,061 cameras at 222 locations under the Safe City Control Centre (including 855 fixed IP cameras and 206 pan-tilt-zoom cameras).
Shortage of officials and operators hampers the timely detection of incidents and delays alerting the police for swift action. This lack of real-time monitoring has contributed to several recent incidents where the police failed to trace suspects immediately after the crime.
The cameras at the Safe City Control Centre are artificial intelligence equipped at several points across the city. “If police provide us with any picture and once fed into our system, this can track if the person is found and give an alert,” said an official at the safe city office.
“Also, the safe city cameras are capable of detecting harassment of women and nuisance. These cameras will capture even a mere fight or suspicious activity and sent it to us and that, in turn, will be sent to 1090 (police) for action,” the official said.
A source within the Smart City project revealed that while thousands of cameras are in place, their effectiveness is compromised due to the absence of monitoring staff at night.
“Most safe city control room staff leave by 8 pm and only around four to five police officials remain at the ITMS office, where they primarily handle traffic-related issues,” an insider claimed.
This means that beyond managing traffic violations, there is no active surveillance to detect criminal activities after dark. This lack has rendered the AI-powered cameras ineffective in preventing crimes. The system, designed to detect suspicious activities, alerts police and provides immediate responses but fails to function as intended due to inadequate staff.
Following the murder of a woman in Malihabad on March 19, the newly appointed joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar visited the ITMS wing to assess the situation on March 21. He reportedly expressed concern over the staff shortage and assured that additional personnel would be arranged to strengthen night-time monitoring.
Despite these investments, the inability of the cameras to alert authorities during emergencies raises questions about the efficiency of the system. Officials claim that the cameras are capable of identifying women harassment, nuisance detection, and other security threats but real-world incidents suggest otherwise.
AK Singh, general manager, Smart City office, said CCTV cameras cover most of the important intersections and areas of the city and are designed to track missing persons and detect suspicious movements. However, he admitted that the AI system has limitations.
“AI cameras can identify unusual activity on roads, but they cannot detect incidents happening inside vehicles like autos or cabs,” he explained.
This means that while the system might flag a person loitering suspiciously on a road, it cannot recognise if someone inside an auto is being harassed, abducted or harmed. The absence of night-time monitoring further weakens its capability to prevent crime.
Despite claims of advanced AI and 24X7 security, the system seems to be failing at crucial moments. The Safe City Control Centre cameras, which are supposed to identify and alert authorities in real time, are unable to raise alerts because of the absence of the officials after 8 pm.
While officials boast of their AI-powered features, the Malihabad incident has exposed the inefficiency of the system. With crime rates rising and criminals exploiting surveillance loopholes, the lack of staff monitoring these expensive systems raises a critical question—are these cameras truly serving their purpose or they are just another expensive but ineffective urban infrastructure project?
Municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh said police officials will look into the issue as the ITMS and the Safe City is being run by them as the project under Smart City have two categories—ITMS and Safe City. When HT tried to contact joint commissioner of police (law and order) Babloo Kumar, he did not answer multiple calls.