Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 02:12 PM IST
Delhi HC tells cops to install CCTVs in vulnerable areas in a year
The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012, gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus.
New Delhi: The CCTV cameras, which would be installed by the Delhi police, will have cutting edge technology. On Thursday, it told the Delhi high court that the CCTV cameras, which it plans to install in vulnerable areas of the city, will record hi-definition videos and will have facial recognition and number plate identification features.
Taking note of the submission, the high court directed the police to ensure that the CCTV cameras are procured and installed in the 44 vulnerable areas within one year as against the time line of 18 months given by the law enforcement agency.
The suggestion from the bench came after the police, represented by the Delhi government standing counsel, told the court that it would take 18 months to install around 6,500 to 7,000 cameras in 44 vulnerable locations in the city.
It also told the court that these cameras would cost around `404 crore.
By comparison, the 1.4 lakh closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras that the Delhi government proposes to install across the national capital would cost `550 crore as they would not be of such high specifications. The cameras to be installed in vulnerable areas won’t have audio recording facility and all data recorded would be wirelessly sent to a centralised location and stored there.
The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012, gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus. The woman later succumbed to her injuries.
Apart from this, the court was also hearing a plea by social activist alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city this year and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.
In both the cases, the court has been issuing directions from time to time with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city; installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime prone areas; reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs; and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.
