Murad wants Safe City project to start face, number plate recognition by February

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday presided over a meeting on the Karachi Safe City project and directed the authorities to start identifying fancy, fake and dubious vehicle number plates from February onwards and report them to the concerned section of the police for further action.

Officials said the CM emphasised that the Safe City Authority should begin using facial recognition technology to identify suspicious individuals travelling in vehicles or moving on the roads from next month to ensure the project’s objectives are met.

During the meeting, he instructed the Sindh Safe Cities Authority (SSCA) to launch a safe city project in Hyderabad and Sukkur as well. He told the authority to submit its project cost estimates (PC-I) to the planning and development (P&D) department for approval.

The meeting held at the CM House was attended by several officials, including Home

Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, among others.

The SSCA director general, Asif Aijaz Shaikh, briefed the CM on the project’s progress. He added that the Karachi Safe City project involved five phases with an estimated cost of Rs34.95 billion.

The project includes installation of 12,000 CCTV cameras with varying resolutions, for which 2,525 pole sites have been identified.

In the first phase, 1,300 CCTV cameras will be installed, including 1,044 new cameras and upgrades to 256 existing cameras.

The CM was informed that 23 emergency response vehicles (ERVs) would be deployed in the city, with five of these equipped with high-powered cameras capable of facial and number plate recognition.

He directed the authority to proceed with the purchase of 110 ERVs and equip them with the necessary technology.

He was also informed that the installation of a video surveillance system had begun and it was expected to be operational by the end of the next year.

The SSCA headquarters has been established in DHA, and construction of a new headquarters building on Sharea Faisal has started.

In response to a query, the meeting was told that 300 pole sites had been identified, and necessary permissions for their right of way from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Civil Aviation Authority had been obtained.

Approval from the cantonment boards was currently in process, and a survey of the 300 pole sites had been completed, with the foundation laid for 200 poles. Thirty three of them were currently operational.

The renovation work at the first Point of Presence (POP) site at the Boat Basin police station had been completed, while the remaining sites were being handed over. These POP sites include locations at the Artillery Maidan, Aram Bagh, Boat Basin, Civil Lines, Clifton, Frere, Saddar, Preedy, Kharadar, Aziz Bhatti, Brigade, Bahadurabad, Ferozeabad, Sharea Faisal, Tipu Sultan, Airport, Malir City and Model Colony police stations. The CM instructed Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon to personally supervise the Safe City project.