On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the NCR has surpassed the megacities like London, New York, and Shanghai in having the most number of CCTV cameras installed per sq mile. As per the Forbes India report, Delhi ranks at the top in the most surveilled cities of the world with 1,826.6 CCTV cameras per square mile, followed by London with 1,138.
In a tweet, he said, “I feel proud to say that Delhi beat cities like Shanghai, New York and London with most CCTV cameras per square mile across the world. At first, Delhi has 1,826 cameras, while at second; London has 1,138 cameras per square mile. My compliments to the Delhi Government’s officers and engineers who worked on the project as a mission and achieved the feat in such a short time.”
A press statement issued by his office later in the day said that the Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal has delivered on its promise. In the first phase of the project, the government nearly installed 275,000 CCTV cameras in Delhi. Now, the government is working on the second phase of the project, in which it is aimed to install 140,000 cameras.
The government further stated, “All CCTV feeds are highly secure, with hardware monitored by the community. Feeds are accessible only to authorised users, and the system itself is capable of automatic health checkups to detect disturbances and intrusions. The Delhi government ensures the security and privacy of all feeds collected and ensures that it is only used for authorised purposes by authorised users.”
Chief Minister Kejriwal congratulated the engineers and officers concerned about achieving the target. He said I am feeling proud to say that the national capital surpasses major cities like NY (New York), Shanghai, and London with the most CCTV cameras per sq mile.
