India, Sept. 1 -- LUCKNOW Around 1,000 AI-enabled Safe City cameras across Lucknow once again went offline on Monday after dues of around Rs.8.43 crore remained unpaid. The blackout, which lasted for seven to eight hours, left major stretches of the city without surveillance and raised fresh concerns about the reliability of the project.

The disruption affected feeds from cameras installed at Ballu Adda, Shankar Crossing, Lalbagh, Naza Road, Mohanlalganj, Nagram and along the Shaheed Path stretch towards Transport Nagar. Officials confirmed that this is the third time in recent years that the cameras have gone offline due to non-payment.

The shutdown occurred after ADSL, the master system integrator for the Integrated Smart Control Room...