Work on Delhi government’s flagship project of installing 280,000 CCTV cameras in residential and market areas is going to start from Saturday, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday.

The CM said he has directed officials to expedite the project so that installation of the cameras in all 70 assembly constituencies is over by December.

“The proposal and tender for nearly 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras has been passed. Survey for locations to install 70,000 cameras has also been completed. Now from June 8, the cameras will be installed in different parts of the city,” Kejriwal said in a press conference at the Delhi secretariat.

Officials in the public works department (PWD), the executing agency of the project, said on condition of anonymity that so far only about 500 cameras have been installed across the city. “But, the work will start in full swing from June 8,” an official said.

The project, one of the 70 manifesto promises of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2015 assembly elections, has been stuck for over three years since it was first announced by the government in 2017. Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal had objected to the project saying it could invade the privacy of people. It was only after the Supreme Court’s July 4, 2018 judgement, which said that the L-G’s approval was not needed in day-to-day administration that Baijal stepped back from the project.

Kejriwal also said his Cabinet will pass another proposal for an additional 140,000 cameras by the month end.

The CM also added that the government is already working towards installing CCTV cameras in its schools. “About 1.5 lakh cameras will be installed in the schools. The project has been started and this project will be completed by November,” Kejriwal said.

When asked about the plan to install cameras in buses, the CM acknowledged that all buses still do not have cameras yet. “Work is also on for installing cameras in DTC buses,” he said.

First Published: Jun 04, 2019 06:36 IST