1.4lakh CCTV cameras in Delhi’s markets, residential areas by October
A government spokesperson said the locations of the cameras would be decided by the MLAs of the constituencies in consultation with local residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and market bodies.
From October, every residential neighbourhood and market in Delhi will be under electronic surveillance for public safety, the Delhi government said on Thursday.
Taking a step towards fulfilling one of its key poll promises, the Aam Aadmi Party government has finalised the concessionaire that would install 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in different parts of the city at a cost of R272 crore.
“A public sector undertaking (PSU) has won the bid to install the CCTV cameras. Work will be awarded to the PSU by the end of this month. Each of the 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi will get 2,000 CCTV cameras,” said Sarwagya Shrivastava, engineer-in-chief, public works department (PWD).
A government spokesperson said the locations of the cameras would be decided by the MLAs of the constituencies in consultation with local residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and market bodies.
The PWD will be the nodal agency. The MLAs will have to submit the list of locations and the department will forward it to the concessionaire.
Though the project has taken shape nearly three years after the AAP came to power, legislators welcomed the move, saying it had been a “long-standing demand” of residents.
“Within the first year of coming to power, I had spent over R2 crore from my MLALAD fund to install wired CCTV cameras in 51 colonies. But maintenance was a big issue as RWAs have limited funds. The quality of cameras was also not up to the mark,” said Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA from Greater Kailash.
Maintenance will be the concessionaire’s responsibility for the first five years and after that the RWAs will take over. The residents’ bodies will have to set up control centres in every colony and monitor the live feed.
“We had conducted a survey and submitted our requirement of 60 cameras to cover entire Vasant Vihar over a year ago. It is good news that work on this will finally start. We will set up the control room at our RWA offices,” said Suresh Goel, president, Vasant Vihar Welfare Association.
The new cameras will be Wi-Fi enabled and will be installed by the company on a rolling pattern based on the lists sent by the MLAs.
The MLAs and RWAs plan to install these cameras at all the entry and exit gates of colonies, arterial roads, markets, parks and other public places.
The CCTV project was AAP’s poll plank in 2015. But so far, cameras were being installed either through MLA funds or a similar project for schools and buses. A citywide plan had been pending.
