While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi says the rotating, all-season 5-km range cameras are meant to check illegal construction and encroachment in the area, locals fear their misuse and a consequent violation of privacy.
The cameras, three of them, were installed in the Old Delhi area on an experimental basis - at Jama Masjid gate number 2, Kasturba Gandhi Hospital building and the LIC building on Asaf Ali Marg. The 3D GIS project was the brainchild of Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, who is from the Chandni Chowk constituency.
But when contacted, Sibal washed his hands of the project, claiming that the reins of the project have been handed over to the MCD.
The monitoring room in MCD’s City Zone office has 10 screens, with officials working round the clock. The locals, however, feel that since the cameras are installed at residential areas, the monitoring officials can misuse them.
One of the cameras, installed in Jama Masjid, has already been pulled down. The Shahi Imam, Ahmed Bukhari, was reportedly not happy with it and had it removed.
Bukhari reportedly said that he was initially told that the cameras were going to be used to track down pickpockets.
When he came to know that they were going to be used for tracking illegal constructions, Bukhari had reportedly said, it set him thinking as to what illegal construction can possibly take place near or inside the mosque. “This has been done to unveil Muslim women,” he had reportedly alleged.
Residents feel that the cameras are being used to target their community. Nowhere else have such cameras been installed in residential colonies, they point out.
A local journalist, Amir Salim Khan, said: “I have seen the visuals from the cameras. These cameras are so powerful, that if focused at night, activities inside a bedroom can clearly be seen.”
Khurram Iqbal, a counsellor in Jama Masjid area, admitted that the residents are feeling insecure about the cameras. “The cameras have not served their purpose anyhow, so far as curbing illegal constructions is concerned. I am planning to take up the issue with the standing committee soon,” he added.
The MCD, however, is planning to carry on with the programme. Vijay Singh, MCD Deputy Commissioner (City Zone) said once the remaining six are installed, “we will be able to keep a better watch on illegal constructions in the area”.
As for the residents’ fears about the cameras invading their privacy, it is “really uncalled for, as MCD officials have better things to do than indulge in immoral activities,” he added.