Hyderabad: City police commissioner CV Anand has announced plans for the replacement and maintenance of CCTV cameras across Hyderabad in 2025.

Addressing media after releasing the Hyderabad City Police annual report- 2024 at the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC) at Banjara Hills on Sunday, December 22, he said that most CCTV cameras installed 6-7 years ago have become defunct and needed either repairing or replacement.

“As per the Telangana Public Safety Act, the installation of new CCTV connectivity is a top priority of the police department, as crime detection and the maintenance of law and order depend on it,” he said.

He noted that the installation of CCTV cameras would be done by a specialised wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Recalling the special drive held by the police in 2014 and 2015, when shopkeepers, communities, and others were encouraged to install CCTV cameras in their areas, the Hyderabad police commissioner stated that 6 lakh shops had installed CCTV cameras at that time. “This was part of the 10,000 cameras installed across the city, along with an additional 3,500 under the Nirbhaya project,” he said.

He, however, stated that presently people weren’t showing interest in installing the CCTV cameras at their own expense, as they wanted the government to do that.

The senior police officer pointed out that out of all the CCTV cameras installed across the country, 60 per cent were present in Telangana.