Cost of Karachi Safe City project doubles before its launch

KARACHI: The cost of the Karachi Safe City Project has witnessed a 100 percent increase even as the project, which was approved in 2011, is yet to be launched, ARY NEWS reported on Monday.

According to details, the initial plan of the safe city project in 2011 estimated a cost of Rs 10 billion for the project, however, after a span of nine years, the cost has doubled to Rs 20 billion, without any chances of it being launched in the near future.

The project included the installation of CCTV cameras and establishment of command and control centres in the city besides introduction of the face and vehicle recognition software and biometric system to identify culprits.

Although the Sindh government had claimed that it would soon launch the project, however, the multiplying cost of the project due to delay from the provincial authorities has raised serious questions on the performance of the Sindh government.

It is pertinent to mention here that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on October 24 directed concerned officials to expedite work on the Karachi Safe City Project.

Sindh Police briefed the meeting regarding the installation of ten thousand cameras in Karachi.

On the occasion, the chief minister said that Rs10 billion had been allocated for the installation of 10,000 CCTV cameras under the safe city project. He directed officials to expedite work on the project and complete the installation of cameras as soon as possible.

“Safe City Project is very important for Karachi in order to keep an eye on the mobility of citizens,” said Murad Ali Shah and directed Sindh IGP Mushtaq Mehar to control street crime in the city.

CM said that law and orders situation has improved in the city as Karachi has been ranked at 93 in the global crime index at the start of 2020.