In order to make cities in Uttar Pradesh smarter and safer, the state government will now ensure 24-hour-vigilance with the help of as many as 5,000 new CCTV cameras. These new cameras will be installed at various intersections, expressways, important roads, railways, and metro stations in Lucknow and many other major UP cities.

The process is underway and these CCTV cameras will be connected to Integrated Control Command Centre (ICCC) or the Smart City control room in Lalbagh soon. A dedicated staff will be given the task of monitoring the camera feed 24x7. Monitoring of city-specific cameras will also be carried out at select police stations where deployed staff will keep watch on the same.

Different departments are joining in to implement the job, for instance, the Urban Planning and Development Authority (UPDA) has set up cams on expressways, Indian Railways at railway stations, National Highway Authority Of India (NHAI) on toll plazas, the Metro admin at metro stations, certain private companies at banks and ATMS, and so on.

“Our cities are now getting smart as well as safe. Now a criminal or an anti-social element, who harasses our sisters and daughters at one intersection and commits robbery at another, will be caught instantly by the police at the next intersection,” the chief minister stated.

The cameras are aimed at capturing more than just traffic violations and expected to show all the activities happening on the streets.

The Centre and the State have jointly aided in stationing CCTV equipment in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Agra, Varanasi, Aligarh, Jhansi, Saharanpur, Bareilly, and Moradabad. State has also given a thumbs up to grants for installation of cameras in Firozabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Ayodhya, Mathura-Vrindavan, Shahjahanpur, and Gorakhpur.