NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court was told by the Delhi police that as many as 6630 CCTV cameras have been installed in sensitive and particularly vulnerable areas of the city as measures to prevent atrocities towards women and emphasize safety.
Before the bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, the Delhi Police submitted that the cameras are monitored from 50 control rooms.
The bench granted time to the cops to consider the proposal of installing panic buttons on poles on which these cameras were installed such that those in distress could easily access the preventive measures put in place for safety.
The high court was hearing a public interest litigation petition initiated by it in 2012 on the issue of the safety and security of women after the horrific December 16, 2012, gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus. She succumbed to her injuries days later.
Advocate Meera Bhatia, who was appointed as amicus curiae, a friend of the court, to assist the court in the matter, suggested that panic buttons should be installed on poles having CCTV cameras so any woman in distress is able to alert the authorities monitoring the master control room immediately.
Additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal, who was representing the Delhi police, said the authorities will certainly consider the proposal and urged the court to grant him some time. The bench granted the city police four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on October 6.
Earlier, the court had issued directions to the police to take “immediate and urgent steps” to install CCTV cameras in vulnerable areas of the national capital, saying it will help curb crime and make women secure.
The court has been, from time to time, issuing directions for increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime-prone areas, reducing delays in the testing of samples at forensic science laboratories (FSL) and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to the victims of sexual assault.
‘Install panic buttons'
Advocate Meera Bhatia, who was appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter, suggested that panic buttons should be installed on poles having CCTV cameras so any woman in distress is able to alert the authorities monitoring the control room. The bench granted the police 4 weeks and listed the matter for hearing on October 6.