Cameras to Track Sanitation in Lanes Around Kashi Vishwanath Temple

VARANASI: The Varanasi Municipal Corporation plans to monitor sanitation work in the lanes around the Kashi Vishwanath temple through camera feeds linked to the Smart City command centre.

The system is intended to show whether assigned lanes have been swept, waste has been collected and dumping points have reappeared. Municipal Commissioner Himanshu Nagpal said sanitation teams will work from beat maps dividing the area into stretches of roughly 500 metres, with responsibility assigned by shift.

A related pilot will place cameras on door-to-door garbage vehicles in five wards: Kalbhairav, Dashashwamedh, Bengali Tola, Shivala and Nagwa. Officials will collect residents’ phone numbers to seek service feedback and compare it with vehicle movement. If the pilot works, the corporation intends to expand the approach across all 100 wards.

The plan responds to a real management problem. Old-city lanes are narrow, busy and difficult to inspect from a vehicle. A supervisor arriving after cleaning time may see fresh litter without knowing whether the beat was missed or waste returned. Time-stamped images can help settle that question and direct a crew before a pile grows.

Technology will not collect the waste by itself. Workers need suitable carts, protective gear, realistic beat lengths and a place where collected material can be transferred without blocking a lane. Health inspectors must act on repeated failures, while enforcement against dumping should use clear evidence and consistent rules rather than arbitrary fines.

The corporation has also said vacant plots used for dumping will be targeted and health inspectors held responsible for their areas. Plot ownership, access and regular lifting should be verified before blaming only nearby residents. Where a recognised collection point is absent, enforcement must be paired with a usable alternative.

Camera monitoring brings a privacy duty. Lanes around the temple contain homes, shops and visitors; the system should capture sanitation work, not become indefinite surveillance of ordinary movement. The corporation should specify who can view footage, how long it is retained, whether audio is recorded and how a resident can challenge misuse. Public signs should explain the purpose.

Feedback calls also require care. Residents should not be asked for unnecessary personal information, and phone lists must not be shared beyond service verification. A missed call should never be treated as proof that cleaning occurred.

Used narrowly, the cameras can make a diffuse service more accountable. The public measure is simple: cleaner lanes, fewer recurring dumping points and faster response when a beat is missed. If the command-centre screen becomes the achievement while the street remains dirty, the project will have confused watching the work with doing it.