FD Block has joined the limited number of blocks in Salt Lake which have installed CCTV cameras in their lanes using private funds.

“We have installed 100 cameras so far with a few more spots left to be covered. We are setting them up not on public properties but on the walls of residents’ houses after taking their consent. This has helped us reduce cost,” said block secretary Abhijit Majumdar.

Instead of having a centralised monitoring spot, the feeds of individual cameras have been given to the house owners who can see it on their cellphones. “This way we do not have to employ someone to monitor the screens. The owner will surely go through the feed twice or thrice a day. The vigil will be more intense,” he added.

Puja committee president Paresh Gupta pointed out that residents were not being asked to pitch in for providing the block with CCTV cover. “We have allocated Rs 22 lakh from our Durga puja fund for the purpose,” he told The Telegraph Salt Lake.

The police has already made use of the feed from one of the cameras when they came to investigate a recent threat to a doctor, block committee members said.

While BC Block was the first in Salt Lake to install CCTVs using their own resources in 2016, several other blocks have done the same subsequently. CG Block and BA Block opted for CCTV cover in 2022 while FE Block did so in 2025.