Following no progress in repair of non-functional CCTV cameras in the city, despite numerous reminders, the Panchkula mayor has warned the municipal corporation officials to get them fixed soon or face action.
As many as 473 CCTV cameras are installed across Panchkula, but a whopping 411 of these are non-functional, raising a big question mark on the third eye surveillance in the city. In February this year, MC had even approved a budget of ₹2.4 crore for the repair and maintenance of surveillance cameras, but in vain.
“For a very long time the CCTV cameras have not been working in the city and instructions have been given a number of times to get them repaired, but nothing has been done. This will not be tolerated and those who will be found callous in this matter will face action,” said mayor Kulbhushan Goyal while expressing his displeasure in the recent MC meeting, where several development projects were reviewed.
CCTV cameras in Panchkula have been crying for maintenance since November 2022, when MC did not renew the contract for their maintenance. MC officials had reasoned that as CCTV footage was monitored and put to use by the police department, it was their responsibility to maintain them. However, the police department had cited lack of resources and budgetary limitations for its inability to maintain the cameras.
{{/usCountry}}CCTV cameras in Panchkula have been crying for maintenance since November 2022, when MC did not renew the contract for their maintenance. MC officials had reasoned that as CCTV footage was monitored and put to use by the police department, it was their responsibility to maintain them. However, the police department had cited lack of resources and budgetary limitations for its inability to maintain the cameras.
{{/usCountry}}The issue of the defunct cameras has come up in dozens of meetings, where the stakeholders concerned, including the mayor, have asserted time and time again that lack of maintenance was defeating the entire purpose of installing the cameras.
In a meeting held in May last year, under the chairpersonship of Haryana assembly speaker and Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta, it was verbally conveyed to the police department that they were to maintain the CCTV cameras. Then in September, the speaker announced that the onus to maintain the cameras lied with the civic body, which brought the long-drawn impasse between the MC and the police department to an end.