Delhi: Over 7,500 CCTV cameras found offline; PWD plans consolidated tender for maintenance

More than 7,500 CCTV cameras across the capital were found to be offline by the Public Works Department (PWD) in its safety audit conducted last year.

Launched in 2020 with the aim to make the city safer, approximately 2.8 lakh cameras have been installed by the government till now, in association with various resident welfare associations and market unions.

According to the latest report submitted by the government in response to a question in the Delhi Assembly, a total of 7,535 cameras were found to be offline. The reasons cited include power cuts, technical faults, theft or vandalism, and dismantling or relocation of cameras.

“In the technical fault category, it is mostly the network-providing company that has issues and there is no relay of the live feed at the Central Command Center (CCC), and then there is theft of parts and power cuts which are external factors. We are trying to resolve all this in the future tender,” a PWD official said.

In a step towards increasing safety, the Delhi government plans to install 50,000 additional CCTV cameras across the city, while also prioritising the maintenance of these cameras.

CCTV cameras are mostly installed in public spaces like markets, roads, inside residential colonies, and business centres, and are connected to the CCC at the PWD headquarters.

The department has handed over maintenance of the cameras to Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL), a public sector unit under the Ministry of Defence.

“In future, for proper maintenance of CCTV cameras, we plan to issue a consolidated tender. Currently, we have a separate company in charge of maintenance work,” a senior PWD official said, adding that the number of dysfunctional cameras is on a real-time basis, and keeps changing.

Also Read: As Delhi reassesses its security grid, CCTV gaps underline areas for improvement

Last year, PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, during the assembly session in February, stated that the government plans to increase the CCTV coverage in the city.

Under the previous plan, 4,000 cameras were to be installed in every assembly constituency. However, allegations emerged that constituencies represented by BJP MLAs received fewer cameras, allegedly due to denial of approvals.

For installing new cameras, the PWD has estimated a cost of Rs 100 crore, which is likely to include installation and maintenance.