Defective CCTV cameras put Khairpur security at risk

SUKKUR: Surveillance system in Khairpur is not satisfactory as just 16 CCTV cameras out of 67 installed in the city are in operational condition.
SSP Khairpur Nasir Aftab said this on Monday after taking notice of non-operational CCTV cameras. He approached the DC Khairpur to take notice of the serious issue, as the cameras were important for police in tracing out criminals. He said the issue was affecting the efficiency of Khairpur police.
The News has learnt that 67 CCTV cameras were got installed in 2011 by Sybrid Pvt Ltd, a company of Laksons Group at the cost of about Rs55 million. The News also learnt that a tender was invited on March 25, 2013 for maintenance of the cameras and keeping them operational. The job was awarded to the Sybrid Company for five years against Rs9,952,938.
Sources said the company kept collecting monthly charges for maintenance and the operational cost from the DC’s office regularly.
Sources said the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) had told the company that the cameras were non-operational, but the company replied that payment of Rs2.7 million for maintenance was not paid by the DC office.
Sources said the company had also not installed UPS, an alternate system of power supply, while it was part of the agreement.
As a result of this controversy, only 16 cameras were in operational condition, while during loadshedding six more cameras go out of order.
Sources said the serious issue was not resolved by the Khairpur administration, which led to an increase in street crime. Resultantly, there were increased incidents of bank robberies and looting of shops in broad daylight.
Sources said the SSP Khairpur, Nasir Aftab paid a surprise visit to the centralised operation centre of the CCTV cameras. He was shocked to know from the staff that only 16 cameras out of the installed 67 were operational.
The SSP brought the situation in the notice of the DC.