LUCKNOW: An unidentified man looted Rs 1.25 crore from a cash van in Gole Market in 2016, but police are clueless till date because the surveillance camera near the scene of crime was defunct. Killer of businessman Manoj Bhattacharya are still roaming scot-free because the spot near Durgapuri Metro station where he was shot has no CCTV cameras.
While most capital cities in India have foolproof electronic surveillance to curb crime, lack of planning and co-ordination between civic authorities and police has left Lucknow vulnerable.
The city has over 220 big and small traffic intersections, but only 70 are technically covered by CCTV cameras. Of the 280 cameras installed at these crossings, 44 at 10 major intersections are missing. The "blind zones" include Durgapuri, Charbagh, Station Road, IT College, Badshah Nagar, Bhootnath Market, HAL crossing, Sector-25 Indiranagar and Telibagh.
"The cameras at 70 crossings were installed under the modern control room project of Lucknow police between 2015 and 2016. It was supposed to cover the entire city, but the plan changed in 2017 when the responsibility of city surveillance was passed on to Lucknow Municipal Corporation under the Smart City project. The latter is underway," said Sarvesh Mishra, ASP, police control room.
Regarding the missing cameras at 10 crossings, Mishra said: "They were removed during construction work by civic agencies, but were not put back together after completion of work." SK Jain, project manager for Smart City, added that they would cover 110 crossings in the city with CCTV cameras and the process was underway.
Residents remained sceptical with cases of con, burglary, snatching and shooting being the order of the day. Gomtinagar, the soft target of break-in gangs, is not covered by surveillance cameras, they pointed out.
Anil Kumar, who lives at Rapti Apartments in Gomtinagar extension, said not just his residential complex, many others in the area had witnessed a spate of burglaries. "Had CCTV cameras been installed here, police could have at least identified some of the gangs," said Kumar whose flat was targeted on June 15.
While most capital cities in India have foolproof electronic surveillance to curb crime, lack of planning and co-ordination between civic authorities and police has left Lucknow vulnerable.
The city has over 220 big and small traffic intersections, but only 70 are technically covered by CCTV cameras. Of the 280 cameras installed at these crossings, 44 at 10 major intersections are missing. The "blind zones" include Durgapuri, Charbagh, Station Road, IT College, Badshah Nagar, Bhootnath Market, HAL crossing, Sector-25 Indiranagar and Telibagh.
"The cameras at 70 crossings were installed under the modern control room project of Lucknow police between 2015 and 2016. It was supposed to cover the entire city, but the plan changed in 2017 when the responsibility of city surveillance was passed on to Lucknow Municipal Corporation under the Smart City project. The latter is underway," said Sarvesh Mishra, ASP, police control room.
Regarding the missing cameras at 10 crossings, Mishra said: "They were removed during construction work by civic agencies, but were not put back together after completion of work." SK Jain, project manager for Smart City, added that they would cover 110 crossings in the city with CCTV cameras and the process was underway.
Residents remained sceptical with cases of con, burglary, snatching and shooting being the order of the day. Gomtinagar, the soft target of break-in gangs, is not covered by surveillance cameras, they pointed out.
Anil Kumar, who lives at Rapti Apartments in Gomtinagar extension, said not just his residential complex, many others in the area had witnessed a spate of burglaries. "Had CCTV cameras been installed here, police could have at least identified some of the gangs," said Kumar whose flat was targeted on June 15.
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