Following the Community-Police Partnership Campaign, the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Office has entered a collaboration with the local level governments of the Kathmandu Valley on increasing CCTV security surveillance.

Camera surveillance as a means of maintaining law and order is a top priority of the campaign, which was launched in October last year. Currently, there are around 500 CCTV cameras surveilling different parts of the Valley. Their video feed are monitored from the control rooms of the Metropolitan Police Office and the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division. Nepal Police has also been working to set up its own  nationwide surveillance facility at its headquarters.

“The cameras we have in the Valley are very few in comparison to the number we require due to which we have been unable to monitor all the major sensitive areas. The need for CCTV cameras has become very important for which the support from the local governments is vital,” DIG Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, chief of the Metropolitan Police Office, told the Post.

“The recent support from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has paved the way for collaboration between police and local governments,” he added.

On Wednesday, Kathmandu Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya had handed over Rs30 million to the Metropolitan Police Office to purchase and install CCTV cameras in the Capital.

According to the KMC officials, the financial support was offered to increase to not just make the city safer but also cleaner.

“The city has been dirty and polluted. Increasing the surveillance of the city via CCTV cameras will also help us to monitor and take action against those people who throw garbage on roads and vehicles emitting excessive smoke,” said KMC Spokesperson Ishwor Man Dangol.

According to police officials, by increasing the number of CCTV cameras, they hope to bolster security, prevent crimes and regulate traffic.

As per the study of the Communication Directorate of the Nepal Police headquarters, the Valley alone requires 21,000 CCTV cameras to cover all the areas.

“Having 21,000 CCTV cameras is an over-ambitious project since we have not even managed  to install half that number of devices. But we certainly hope to enhance our surveillance capacity with the help of local governments,” DIGP Rajiv Subba, chief of the directorate, told the Post.

“We also have a budget of Rs30 million to install CCTV cameras. The KMC and the police can install around 120 CCTV cameras at sensitive areas and major junctions.”

Nepal Police is also in talks with the officials of Lalitpur metropolis to add CCTV cameras in the city.