Delhi govt to install 1.4 lakh more CCTV cams across Capital in next phase, says CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: Boasting that the Capital now ranked first in the world for the number of CCTV cameras per square mile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that his government would install 1.4 lakh more CCTV cameras in Delhi in the second phase of its project.

He said 2.75 lakh CCTV cameras have been installed in the national capital since the Aam Aadmi Party formed the government.

Citing a survey, the chief minister said that Delhi is well ahead of London, New York, Singapore and Paris in terms of CCTV cameras per square mile. According to a survey, Delhi ranks number one in 150 cities in the world in terms of CCTV cameras installed per square mile, the chief minister said.

"Delhi has 1,826 CCTV cameras per square mile. London, which has bagged the second spot in the survey, has 1,138 cameras. We are well ahead of London, New York, Singapore, Paris. There is no comparison," he said. Delhi has thrice the number of CCTV cameras in Chennai and 11 times the cameras in Mumbai, Kejriwal said.

There is an improvement in women security situation since the government installed the cameras. Women feel safe. Police get a lot of help in solving crime cases, he said.

Significantly, Delhi still leads metropolitan cities in its population category in most crimes against women, according to the latest NCRB data available for 2020.

"We are going to install 1.40 lakh CCTV cameras in phase two of the project. Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited will install the cameras," he said at a press conference, adding that the Centre had tried to "impede" the project and that he and his party colleagues had to stage dharna outside the L-G house to get this project underway.

The CM informed that Delhi will have a total of 4.15 lakh CCTV cameras after the installation of 1.40 lakh cameras, insisting that live view of CCTVs installed in Delhi can be seen from anywhere in the world and that complete privacy will be ensured with only authorised personnel having access to the feed.

The CM added that the new cameras will be fitted with an alarm system that will alert the command control centre in case any of the cameras are damaged. "Additionally, concerned operators will also receive messages on their phones alerting the same. So, in case of power cut or vandalism, if a CCTV camera stops working, these alerts will help repair it at the earliest," the chief minister said.