PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
More than a month after the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) approved a proposal to install CCTV cameras in all 100 wards of the city, the plan is yet to take off on the ground, drawing criticism from councillors across party lines.
The proposal was cleared in a board meeting, which was held in August 2025, with the aim of strengthening surveillance in residential areas and checking problems such as theft, encroachment and open dumping of garbage. However, no installation work has begun so far, raising questions about delays in implementation.
Congress councillor Nikhil Kumar from Dalanwala ward said that the civic body had made announcements but failed to act on them. He said that the issue concerns public safety and sanitation and would be raised again in the upcoming board meeting.
The delay has also drawn a reaction from within the ruling party. BJP councillor Ankit Aggarwal from Vasant Vihar ward stated that while the proposal had been approved earlier, there has been no visible progress on installation so far.
Officials, however, said that the process is moving forward. Assistant municipal commissioner Rajveer Singh Chauhan said that locations for installing the cameras across wards have now been identified and work is expected to begin soon.
The CCTV resolution was passed during the March 18 municipal session and was approved by the mayor Saurabh Thapliyal and municipal commissioner Namami Bansal. At the beginning of April, Deputy municipal commissioner Tanvir Marwah stated that MCD had constituted 52 ward-wise committees to accelerate the installation of CCTV cameras. The committees were assigned specific wards and were tasked with identifying suitable installation points in coordination with ward councillors.
The committees were directed to submit ward-level location data in a prescribed format within one week and ensure that installations are carried out in their presence once locations are finalised.
Dehradun, which has 100 municipal wards, has seen repeated demands for CCTV coverage in neighbourhoods to improve monitoring and help check civic violations.
