The tragic death of 28-year-old constable Shardaben Dabhi in a hit-and-run accident on Ahmedabad’s busy Riverfront Road on Thursday has raised questions about the city’s surveillance infrastructure.

The absence of CCTV cameras on this high-traffic stretch has left police struggling to identify the vehicle involved in the fatal incident.  

Riverfront Road, an 11-kilometre stretch known for heavy vehicular movement, remains largely uncovered by surveillance systems despite claims by authorities that Ahmedabad is under robust CCTV monitoring.

Out of the 16 junctions along the Riverfront, only three or four are equipped with functional cameras connected to the city’s central control room. The rest remain vulnerable, leaving significant gaps in monitoring.  

Police officials are finding it challenging to piece together evidence in Dabhi’s case.

“We submitted a proposal to the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) over a year ago, requesting coverage of all junctions. However, after installing cameras at a few locations, the work was inexplicably halted,” a senior police officer said, “We are missing out on a major chunk of the city without surveillance, which is critical for preventing and investigating crimes.”  

Currently, Ahmedabad boasts around 2,000 CCTV cameras at 130 junctions under the Smart City Project. However, the Riverfront, a key artery of the city, has been overlooked.  

Explaining the delays, Dev Chaudhary, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of SRFDCL, said, “We are not planning to install additional cameras at the moment. Setting up a parallel system with its own control room would require significant resources. The existing Smart City infrastructure should ideally be extended to include the Riverfront.”  

The hit-and-run case has once again highlights gaps in Ahmedabad’s ambitious Smart City initiative, with citizens and officials calling for immediate action. 

For a city aspiring to leverage technology for safety and efficiency, the lack of surveillance on a critical stretch like the Riverfront underscores the urgent need for better planning and execution.  

In the meantime, police continue their efforts to solve the case, relying on witness accounts and other evidence. However, without crucial video footage, their task remains daunting. The tragic loss of Shardaben Dabhi serves as a grim reminder of the need for a comprehensive surveillance network in all parts of the city.