Good news, Karachiites! Karachi Safe City Project is just 60 days away from its commencement date. Nawab Muhammad Taimur Talpur, the Provincial Minister for Information Science and Technology, has confirmed that the first phase of the project will be launched in the next sixty days.
Karachi Safe City Project—An Overview
Karachi is considered the financial hub of Pakistan and it is also the largest city of the country in terms of population. The authorities have been trying to maintain the law and order situation as well as ensure the safety and security of people in the city. Comparing the city’s current law and order situation with what it was a few years back, there is a considerable improvement. And to keep the upward trajectory of improvement going, the Provincial Minister for Information, Science and Technology has ensured the citizens that Karachi will become one of the safer cities in the world.
Karachi Safe City Project was first approved in 2011. According to the initiative, the city will get 10,000 high-quality CCTV cameras. In the first phase of this project, cameras will be installed in two areas: Karachi Railway Station and District South. The cost of the project is PKR 20 billion which has increased considerably as compared to what was initially proposed.
Functions Of Karachi Safe City Project
In October 2020, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah instructed the concerned officials to accelerate work on Karachi Safe City Project. With the installation of these CCTV cameras in the city, the safety and security of the city will start to improve. The breakdown of the cost incurred includes the installation of high-powered CCTV cameras, the creation of command and control centres to monitor the live feeds from around the city, installation of the face and vehicle recognition software and biometric system.
The first phase will only cover two areas of the city but it is in plans to install safe city cameras across the city in the second and third phase. The time duration in which this project is expected to be completed is 3 years.
Punjab Safe Cities Authority
Provincial governments have been making various efforts to ensure the safety of people and their assets. For this purpose, the Provincial Government of Punjab launched Punjab Safe Cities Project, using cutting edge technology. Through this project and using advanced technology, the authorities have been able to address and resolve public issues regarding traffic management, emergency situations and law and order.
Under the project, traffic surveillance cameras were installed across the city which perform following functions round the clock:
- Intelligent traffic management system
- 1122 Emergency response
- E-challan system
- Criminal identification
- Virtual surveillance
One of the most important testimonies to the success of this project was reported in January 2020 when Lahore was declared safer than cities like Paris, Berlin, Rome, Chicago and New York City on the World Crime Index.
After the successful implementation of the project in Lahore, the government of Punjab, in 2019, planned to introduce similar measures in three more cities—Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Taunsa.
So, this was a quick update regarding Karachi Safe City Project. Stay tuned to Zameen Blog to get regular updates about the project.
