Govt to draft own rules for setting up CCTVS in city, says Kejriwal
NEWDELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he will hold a meeting of all resident welfare and market associations to finalise modalities of installing CCTV cameras across the city.
The government’s move comes days after a panel set up by Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal recommended that anyone installing CCTV cameras will have to register themselves with the police for maintaining a count of such devices in the city.
Officials in the chief minister’s office, however, said that the government is not going to follow the recommendation of the L-G’S panel. The CM’S office said the panel stands “infructuous” after the Supreme Court judgment of July 4 as it is a project funded by the legislative assembly and not the police, which comes under the L-G.
Indicating that the Aam Aadmi Party government is going to draft its own set of rules to install the 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras, Kejriwal said, “Delhi government will soon call a meeting of all resident welfare associations and market associations in the city to discuss and finalise modalities of installing CCTV cameras across Delhi.”
The L-G panel too, while drafting its report, had consulted RWAS and market associations for formulating rules to install, operate and maintain such cameras. The panel suggested that police, and not the government, be the custodian of cameras in public places.
Alleging that the panel had recommended acquiring a CCTV camera license from police before installing it, Kejriwal on Wednesday said it was a huge blow to women safety as it would mean removal of existing cameras as well for the sake of license.
SIGNATURE BRIDGE
The Delhi cabinet on Thursday approved the Public Works Department’s final revised estimate of ₹1518.37 crore for the completion of the much delayed Signature Bridge project at Wazirabad over the Yamuna river.
“Last week, the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) had approved the revised budget and the same was cleared by the Cabinet chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday,” a government spokesperson said.
The official also added that Kejriwal has told PWD that no cost escalation will be considered in the future. The bridge is likely to be completed by October end.
Conceptualised in 2004, the Signature Bridge project got the Delhi Cabinet’s nod in 2007. The first deadline was fixed ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but was revised to 2013. It was then pushed to June 2016 and later to July 2017, which was further pushed to December 2017.