Around 200 of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s 322 gardens reportedly have no CCTV cameras, raising concerns about public safety in parks used by residents, women and children. The gap has also exposed uncertainty over whether cameras installed in the remaining gardens are operational.
According to a report by Sandesh, the AMC’s garden department has repeatedly written to the e-governance department seeking the installation and repair of CCTV systems. However, the report attributes the delay to inaction within the e-governance system, leaving most municipal gardens without camera coverage.
The figures indicate that approximately 122 of the 322 AMC-managed gardens are understood to have CCTV cameras. The report said the civic body itself does not have clear information on how many of these cameras are functioning and how many are inactive. This creates a second layer of uncertainty beyond the absence of cameras in nearly two-thirds of the gardens.
Municipal gardens serve as daily recreation spaces and are used by residents for walking, exercise and leisure. The reported lack of surveillance has prompted concerns about how incidents such as theft, harassment or other unwanted activity would be investigated when there is no recorded visual evidence. Identifying suspects and supporting subsequent action can become more difficult when camera coverage is absent or equipment is not working.
The issue has also drawn criticism from citizens and local representatives, who questioned whether claims of Ahmedabad being a smart city are being matched by basic maintenance and safety systems on the ground. Their concern is not limited to the number of cameras installed, but also to the absence of publicly clear information about coverage, functionality and responsibility for repairs.
The reported correspondence between the garden department and the e-governance department points to an administrative coordination problem within the civic body. While the garden department is responsible for the parks, CCTV installation, monitoring or repair appears to involve another municipal department, creating a dependency that has contributed to delays according to the report.
Citizens have demanded that the AMC take immediate steps to install cameras in the uncovered gardens and restore non-functioning systems. The report did not provide a timeline for completing the installations or a municipal statement detailing the number of working cameras, the locations covered or the next administrative action.
