The AAP administration had approved the installation of 280,000 CCTV cameras at a cost of around Rs 571 crore to bolster surveillance and deter crime
A technical audit by the Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) has found that nearly 32,000 CCTV cameras installed across the capital’s 70 assembly constituencies are not working.
PWD minister Pravesh Verma said the faulty units were identified in a report submitted by the department, which reviewed more than 250,000 cameras installed under a scheme launched by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The BJP minister has ordered an inquiry into the failures.
The AAP administration had approved the installation of 280,000 CCTV cameras at a cost of around Rs 571 crore to bolster surveillance and deter crime. The project has been dogged by controversy, with former minister Satyendra Jain facing prosecution over alleged corruption linked to the scheme.
Verma said the original contract stipulated that malfunctions would be detected automatically by a control room and fixed remotely. The installation company was also required to maintain the cameras for five years. “In such a scenario, why the CCTV cameras are not working should be investigated,” he told reporters.
The BJP ended a decade of AAP rule in the February 2025 Delhi assembly elections, forming a new government the following month.
